Downer Done Good

Gunfleet Sailing Club held the first race in the SOS Cadet and Otter Class Points series last Saturday 27 May with a healthy turn-out of boats.  Unfortunately the separate courses for separate classes caught one or two out as they had misread or misunderstood where they were meant to go.  In light airs there were no capsizes, and with the wind becoming more fickle the number of laps was shortened, much to the relief of everyone.  First away were the Toppers and it was Ted Newson that lead from the start, whilst his nearest rival, Korben Symmonds, was forced to head back to the shore having forgotten to put the bung in his boat.  Five minutes later and the Topazes headed up the coast with Harrison Smith staying in front for much of the way; however he was just beaten by Henry Spooner, with Jude Aylen finishing in third place.  In the 405 class it was a convincing victory for Ross and Caleb Aylen, and in the Menagerie Fleet Cadet Commodore Harry Swinbourne sailed his Laser into first place, ahead of Alfie Searles in his Pico.

On Sunday 28 May there were thirteen boats that took part in the race for the Bill Geddes Trophy and it certainly wasn’t an unlucky number for Peter Downer, who claimed first place in his Comet by just a fraction of a second over Ken Potts sailing his Laser.

It was Andy Dunnett and Nadia MacDonald that had a flying start in their RS200 and lead the field up to and round the St. Michael’s buoy, this first leg being a beat with the flooding tide hurrying them along.  But the second leg, a run back to Eastcliff, saw the Fireball of Paul and Elliot Berry overtake as they used their spinnaker to full advantage.   Potts was, by now, the leading Laser but had Harry Swinbourne snapping at his stern.  In the slow handicap boats Luke Powling was driving his Topper well but was no match for Downer who seemed to make his Comet dance to the breeze.  The broad reach out to the Seaward mark gave the opportunity for the 405s to hoist their asymmetric kites making quite an impression; Ross and Caleb Aylen slipping ahead of Tom and Ed Philpot.

The close reach down to AWS, followed by a fetch back out to sea, saw little change in the order but the Fireball certainly opened the gap.  Ted Newson, having had a late start in his Topper, played catch-up throughout the race, but failed to be much of a threat, whilst Downer continued to sail a faultless course and, on handicap, just took the winning gun by a gnat’s whisker.
      
Results:
Bill Geddes Trophy:    
1.    Comet – Peter Downer
2.    Laser – Ken Potts
3.    Laser – Paul Stanton

In the afternoon there were some 14 boats that took to the water for the second in the Cadet and Otter Sail Training, really building their skills until the wind dropped to nothing and the Club’s Rescue Boat was forced to tow the very happy youngsters back to the Club.

Then, a few hours later, 50 members arrived at the Clubhouse for the Chill-Out Evening – a chance to relax, have a drink or two, a few nibbles, and watch the firework display.  The balmy evening made it a real pleasure sitting on the Club veranda and viewing the colourful spectacular.