Class Points 3 Gives Victory To Jono, Simon, Eddie, and Dave

The weather on Sunday 5 June appeared unsettled but the forecast reassured members of the Gunfleet Sailing Club that the wind would ease down as the day went on.  The grey skies certainly did not deter entries for the third set of races in the Class Points Series.  The first class to go was the Laser and the north/north-easterly wind and flood tide split the fleet on the start line between heading towards the shore on starboard tack, mitigating the effect of the tide but losing some of the wind, or heading out to see on port tack, gaining a slightly fresher wind but fighting the stronger tide.  Andy Dunnett chose the starboard tack and met his son Jono on port right by the Inner Distance Mark, forcing the latter to tack and then being confronted by his father’s dirty wind.  Meanwhile almost all the others headed out to sea for a short distance before they too tacked towards the shore.  By the time the fleet rounded the windward mark, up at Kingscliff, it was Ken Potts leading, with Andy Dunnett second and Jono Dunnett third.

By now the Solo class had got underway with Simon Clarke leading from the start, followed by Chris Maloney; a similar tacking situation occurring.

Back in the Laser fleet, and Andy Dunnett reached the Seaward buoy practically level-pegging with Potts who, possibly surprised by his rivals appearance, capsized;  by the time he righted he had dropped back to sixth position.  It was on the third leg, the reach into the AWS mark, that the helms felt the full impact of the strong flood tide as they found their dinghies being swept towards Clacton Pier.  The run to Lilley Farm buoy was fairly uneventful but the penultimate leg caught Andy Dunnett out as he hardened-up to head to Eastcliff before realising the mark to aim for was at St. Michaels’s; this costing him his lead.  With a long beat back to the line the fleet was still very much together but now Jono Dunnett was leading; Potts had clawed his way back up to second place with Paul Stanton holding onto third position.

The Solo fleet had a different course and after a gybe around the Seaward mark the fleet reached to Lilley Farm buoy before fetching into Eastcliff and beating back to the line.  Maloney had stuck close to Clarke for much of the first lap but towards the end found Clarke pulling away, along with Derroll Pedder champing at his transom.

The Comet class saw Eddie White lead the way round the course, after an early capsize.

On the Second lap of the Lasers Jono Dunnett opened the gap to his nearest rival and at the Kingscliff buoy it was Jono, Potts, Stanton, Rob Mitchell, Andy Dunnett, and then Tim Dye, followed by Brian Allen Carlo Bardetti and Yvonne Gough.  Positions changed and changed again and on the final beat back from St. Michael’s to the finish line it was hard to tell where anyone was going to be.  Dye, knowing that following the fleet would not improve his position, decided to tack out to sea and gain the advantage of the stronger wind; a clever tactic that seemed to neither help nor harm him.  

In the Solo fleet it was Clarke that comfortably took the second, and final, lap, and in the Menagerie fleet it was a clear win for Dave Ingle in his RS Aero.

Results – Class Points 3:
Laser Fleet:
1.    Jono Dunnett
2.    Ken Potts
3.    Paul Stanton
Solo Fleet:
1.    Simon Clarke
2.    Chris Maloney
3.    Derroll Pedder
Comet Fleet:
1.    Eddie White
Menagerie Fleet:
1.    RS Aero – Dave Ingle