Lockett Crowned King Of Capsizes

Gunfleet Sailing Club members had a lively race last Sunday 6 November, in strong offshore winds, culminating in a very clear win for Ken Potts in his Laser.

With a flat sea, blue sky, and unbroken sunshine, it looked idyllic for the competitors as they rigged their boats on the beach, but to the more trained sailor’s eye the visible conditions masked a force 4 to 6 west/north westerly wind.  Prior to the start the craft hurtled up and down, the crews clearly loving the exhilaration of fast sailing, and when it came to “the off” it was Andy Dunnett that lead the fleet, in his Laser, on the fetch down the coast to the Eastcliff buoy.  But the first leg was not without incident and Rob Lockett capsized his Laser, righted it, got going and very nearly capsized again as the boat lent almost horizontal to the water.  The second leg, a very broad reach out to the Seaward mark saw further capsizing in the gusts; first over was Dunnett who righted his Laser, only to experience it flipping over the other way, and as he made the second attempt to right it he was aware of his competitors flying past.  Then it was Lockett’s turn again when it appeared to be a game of who could capsize the most.  By this time Ken Potts had got the bit between his teeth and was absolutely storming ahead, helped by the fact that he was able to keep his Laser upright.  A beat to the AWS buoy and a close haul back to Eastcliff saw further capsizes from the “tippy-twins” who were clearly aiming to go for the record for the most capsizes in any one race.  Back out to sea and a reach up the coast to the Kingscliff buoy saw some more settled sailing and then it was straight back to the line.  At the end of the first lap it was clearly going to be Potts’ race, provided he avoided any mishaps during the second lap.  Many of the others, who had been dogged by issues in the first half of the race, settled down for the second half; Dunnett even managing to creep back up to third place, whilst in amongst the chaos Derroll Pedder achieved a “dry” second overall in his Solution.

The sailors were greeted with sausage and bacon rolls when they came off the water, a perfect end to a lively morning.

Results – Winter Series 3:
1. Laser – Ken Potts
2. Solution – Derroll Pedder
3. Laser – Andy Dunnett