There was a pretty la rge cat open at the Club and we found ourselves sharing the slipway and lake with the wide ones. A few dozen cats can churn up the wind quite a lot and that was the story of the beats. The fleet got away from the slight committee boat biased line and chugged our way up the first beat. Ian Linder and Kevin Sweetman picked the shifts magnificently and soon worked out a useful lead from The Humes. The Admiral and The VC took a flyer to the left, away from the Cat fleet and scorched up the fleet into third - leaving Howard and Richard wallowing to the right hand side and even passing Mark and Matt who finished 4th.
Race two saw a tight jam at the pin end, with at least Howard/Richard and Janet&John (no - really...) being over the line at the gun. It is reported that the Admiral's Barge also made their second rubbish start for the day - but again it didn't stop them. Daddy Bear and Baby Bear Firth, with about 15 stone aboard, shot off into the middle distance just about straight out of the gate. Poor start aside, it was Grand Daddy Firth and Goldilocks who challenged them strongest - finishing less than half a minute astern. G-locks reported that Grand Daddy Firth didn't know whether to be proud of his offspring,... or angry that they were uncatchable... but that was the way it stayed. John Hanson with newcomer, Michael Vogt, sailed very well into a strong third. Then came Ian and Kevin followed by Howard and Richard.
This weekend was the Bewl FF Open - we hope they had more breeze there than Datchet managed. However, next weekend (26/27th) is the Datchet FF Open and we look forward to some great racing. First start on Saturday not before 1pm.
