Well, slightly better than that.... With the reservoir really very full, you only need 3 or 4 knots of breeze to fill right across the water. And that's what we had, with bright sunlight and ever increasing balmy temperatures. The sunshine was simply spectacular and we had 9 boats rig for racing. As seems normal at the moment, we get one or two drop out across the day - and Andy Murphy got his new boat afloat before any of us, but unfortunately didn't seem to make it to the line for racing.
The PRO laid a pretty fair course today and we completed 3 laps each time, despite the light breezes. Race one got away with a modicum of hoo haa, and one boat was I think over the line. Roger and Tony got in a bit of a knot with some cats, so that made their day. It was John Basford in the Club boat who set a cracking pace up the first beat and at the top mark he had Howard and Richard, then Mike and Phil pretty hard on his heels. The three closed up on the first close reach and at the gybe mark, Richard and Howard nipped inside John, but the VC and the Admiral nipped inside them!! After this, the Admiral's Barge sometimes just a few inches ahead of Howard and Richard pulled away from the fleet and these two boats finished just 13 seconds apart after almost an hour's racing. Andy Clark led the pack home a minute later. Mervyn/James were fourth and the Stensons were fifth ahead of The Millars.
The wind was swinging around somewhat for race two. The Lasers started heavily bunched at the committee boat end, but things seemed to even out by the time of the FF start. The Millars did a corker start, full speed, flat out from the middle of the gate. Terrifically inspired guesswork - ha !!! No, seriously, a text book start....!! Nobody was over, and we tumbled up the beat. The order through the gate didn't matter too much and very soon the Admiral was out front - revelling as always in these conditions. Howard and Richard, it must be said, were last at one point. However, the chase was on. John Basford had to retire with a broken jib halyard (in THIS weather!) and we all cheered as a cat fell over in a force one - how embarrassing!! The order of players gradually resolved to pretty much the same as race one. Richard and Howard scrambled up to second, but Firthie this time was 90 seconds ahead and in a class of his own.
For full results, click on "Last Sunday's Results" at www.flyingfifteen.org
