Gunfleet's Full-On Weekend....And Wednesday Evening Too

Gunfleet Sailing Club launched its weekend of activities with the Cadet and Otter Bring A Friend Sailing as part of SOS - Sailing On Saturday on 3 June 2017.  A group of excited and eager young visitors got their first taste of handling a dinghy at sea and all agreed it had been a great success, confirmed by the 41 hot-dogs and burgers consumed!

Sunday morning’s fresh west/south-westerly wind and unbroken sunshine brought twelve boats on the water to race for the Jubilee Cup, with Andy Dunnett having a clear start in his Laser.  He was followed by Harry Swinbourne and then John Tapenden, both in Lasers, and so the long beat down the coast to the St. Michael’s buoy commenced.  With the tide ebbing the competitors tacked close to the shore, in order to mitigate its negative effect; all boats making good progress.  Dunnett, however, became the first casualty when he capsized and forewent his lead, the Fireball of Jack and Elliot Berry being the first craft to round the mark.  There then followed a very broad reach to the Eastcliff buoy before a run to the AWS mark.  Tappenden was now leading the Laser fleet whilst a little further back were Dave Fowell and Jeremy Goodchild in their GP14.  Having very successfully flown their spinnaker on the last two legs the Berry brothers attempted to head out to the Seaward buoy still flying it but disaster struck and they found themselves in the water, whilst several boats went past them; once having righted the boat they decided to retire back to the shore.  Eddie White also capsized and he too called it a day.  Meanwhile the rest of the competitors battled on, gybing around the Seaward buoy and heading, on an exhilarating reach, to the Kingscliff mark before beating back through the line.  Things started to settle down at this point and it was Tappenden that had the lead as the boats started the second lap.  The wind seemed to drop for a short while and then pick up, with the odd squall blowing through.  Tappenden maintained his lead and won the race but all credit had to go to Ted Newson who sailed his Topper round the course in a very determined way. 
      
Results:
Jubilee Trophy:    
1.    Laser – John Tappenden
2.    Laser – Paul Stanton
3.    Laser – Andy Dunnett

In the afternoon there was sail training for the Cadets and Otters with a particular focus, this Sunday, on the Topper dinghy.  After some “dry sailing” on the beach, when everyone was shown how to tack in a rear-mainsheet boat, the intrepid young sailors took to the water and turned theory into practice.  

The previous Wednesday evening 31 May 2017 the Gunfleet started its Summer Series and, in a force 2 to 3 easterly wind, provided a fascinating spectacle to those on shore.  Andy Dunnett was just a bit too eager to start in his Laser and was forced to return and correct his mistake, setting him firmly at the back of the fleet.  John Tappenden soon opened up a lead in his Vortex as the competitors tacked up the coast to the Kingscliff buoy with an ebbing tide hurrying them along.  By this time Yvonne Gough was leading the Laser fleet with Rob Lockett just behind.  Dunnett worked hard to push his way through the other boats and then managed hit the AWS buoy, putting him back once more as he was forced to carry out a sailing penalty.  Father and daughter Steve and Daisy Swinbourne had their new RS200 going well whilst Peter Downer misread the course and was forced to retire.  With three laps of a small course it gave a second chance for Dunnett to deploy some clever tactics and so go from last to first by the end of the race.

Results:
Summer Series – 1:
1.    Laser – Andy Dunnett
2.    Vortex – John Tappenden
3.    Laser – Yvonne Gough