Report by Deano

Having lost six Sundays due to the changeable weather this winter, it was a relief for the 11 competing boats to be able to sail again on the reservoir in lovely conditions.

The previous race had been the Frostbite Regatta on Boxing Day, a one-off single race affair followed by hot soup supplied by the Boyes and Gill Bellwood. The racing was won by Andrew and Frances Dean in an RS200 in a very light and fickle breeze with luck playing a major part in the result.

There was no such excuse on Sunday. The light south-westerly increased to an almost perfect wind during the morning. Multi-island champ Russell and June Collister showed no mercy in the other RS and notched up two emphatic wins, leaving the rest of the fleet trailing by 41 seconds and over two minutes in races one and two respectively.

Results in the rest of the fleet were much closer. The Race Officer set an excellent windward/leeward course, testing the spinnaker-setting skills of the assymetrics. Andrew and Charlotte Dean still have a bit to learn from the Collisters and endured a sixth in race one but improved with the wind to record a second in race two. Mike Pridham in the Laser had his usual good day at the office scoring a second and third, being pushed hard by Ralph Kee in another Laser; these two were almost match-racing. Perhaps the most remarkable sailing was reserved for Keith and Ted Holden in the GP14 who lost out by only a very few seconds to record a 4th and a 5th. Ali Hinds had a 5th and a 6th but she looks more dangerous each week. John Dowling suffered the only capsize of the day – quite a surprise but the rescue boat crewed by the Hendys was on hand in seconds to ensure no more damage than a slight loss of pride.

Results:

This entry was posted on Monday, January 8th, 2007 at 5:44 pm and is filed under Race News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.