Lasers Lead The Way

Gunfleet Sailing Club held the second race in the Spring Series last Sunday 21 April, in almost perfect conditions.  With unbroken sunshine and a force four north-easterly breeze, the competitors set off up the coast to the Kingscliff buoy.  Leading the fleet was Andy Cornforth in his Laser, with Paul Stanton, also in a Laser, just behind and closing the gap.  The two Comets found the freshening wind a bit too much and both helms called it a day.  Disaster struck early for Cornforth when, exerting extra pressure on the downhaul, the fitting by the mast pulled out of the deck.  His initial reaction was to turn back home but putting the boat into wind for several minutes, saw him execute a clever makeshift arrangement which put him firmly back in the race.  Meanwhile, having rounded the first mark, Stanton found himself battling the RS200 of Harry Swinbourne and Tom Philpot, and Rob Lockett in his Blaze.  The 200 hoisted its asymmetric spinnaker and literally changed gear as the competitors headed out to the Seaward buoy.  A stonking reach into the AWS buoy and back out to Seaward saw some tight sailing and on the penultimate leg, from Seaward to Eastcliff, the RS200 once again flew its kite.  Also taking the opportunity to fly their kite were Michael Gutteridge and Derroll Pedder in the GP14.  As the boats beat back through the line it was Stanton that had the lead, going on to a convincing win in the second and final lap.  

Results – Spring Series 2:
1.    Laser – Paul Stanton
2.    RS200 – Harry Swinbourne and Tom Philpot
3.    Blaze – Rob Lockett

Bank-holiday Monday’s race, for the Hertford County Shield, saw very similar conditions as Sunday.  Also similar was Cornforth having breakages on his Laser, and once again he started with a serious time disadvantage.  First away from the line, with an almost perfect start, was the GP14 of Gutteridge and Pedder, followed closely by Stanton and Ken Potts in their Lasers.  A very close tacking game, against the flood tide, occurred as the boats headed up to the windward mark; plenty of calls of starboard echoing across the sea.  Potts, having pushed his luck when on port tack, correctly carried-out two 360 degree turns and Stanton lead the fleet around the first buoy.  Sitting in a very strong position was Dave Fowell in his Solo, ahead of Yvonne Gough in her Laser and Lockett in the Blaze.  The reach out to Seaward was a quick one, followed by a sausage into AWS buoy and back out to sea.  Spinnakers flew on both the RS200 and GP14 on the reach to the Eastcliff buoy and the run down the coast to St. Michael’s mark, and as the boats beat back from St. Michael’s there was some nail-biting tacking close to shore; a marvellous spectacle to all those watching on dry land.  At the end of the first lap it was Potts in first place with Stanton just behind, but Potts then began to pull away and go on to build up quite a considerable lead.  However, the star of the race, on completion of the second and final lap, was Cornforth who had worked his way past five other boats to take an impressive third place.    

Results – Hertford County Shield:
1.    Laser – Ken Potts
2.    Laser – Paul Stanton
3.    Laser – Andy Cornforth