Another Great Race At Gunfleet

Members of the Gunfleet Sailing Club enjoyed some fabulous conditions last Sunday 13 September when they took part in the race for the Jubilee Cup.  Traditionally this race is held on the nearest Sunday to the anniversary of the Queen’s coronation but sadly the Club’s original race programme was overtaken by events.

Force 4, gusting 5, winds and a lumpy sea greeted the competitors, but with a backdrop of blue skies and sunshine, it was a real joy to be out on the water.  At a tightly bunched start it was Derroll Pedder that led the fleet in his Solo, being close to the Inner Distance Mark and therefore close to the shore; a good move as the dinghies beat down the coast against an ebbing tide, on their way to the windward buoy at Eastcliff.  To Pedder’s windward was Andy Dunnett in his Laser Radial and it wasn’t long before he had edged ahead and gained an overlap.  Whilst rigging-up the wind had been from a constant south-westerly direction but early on in the race it started to back before settling from the south.  This new direction gave an exciting reach on the second leg, the helms heading out to the Seaward buoy with the tide under them.  Having positioned himself at the far end of the start line, Ken Potts took his Laser, with a full rig, cleanly through the rest of the fleet and showed everyone the way out to the offshore buoy; at which point it was necessary to gybe the boats round.  The third leg was a broad reach in to the AWS buoy, culminating in a second gybe before running up the coast to the Kingscliff buoy.  Having seen Dunnett pull away from him, Pedder then had trouble holding Yvonne Gough back in her Laser 4.7; he realised then that his mainsail had been set-up over-flattened which proved hard to rectify whilst on the move.  Just trailing Gough was Eddie White, also in a Laser 4.7.  A final gybe round the Kingscliff and it was a tight beat back to the line.  At the end of the first lap Potts had carved-out a respectable lead but on the second lap his nearest rival, Dunnett, closed the gap and went on to narrow it still further on the third and final lap.

Results – Jubilee Cup:
1.    Laser  Full – Ken Potts
2.    Laser Radial – Andy Dunnett
3.    Laser 4.7 – Yvonne Gough