Sunday 17th July 2022 – Race Report
With the tide rising quickly and the rocks submerged from view, a request was asked to enlarge the course and the rescue boat crew quickly moved the windward mark further out to sea for a
More escapades continued on the water, with absent mindedness from the Yperman crew of Gary S and Peter C, both not looking when circling in the starting zone, came to an abrupt meeting of hulls with another catamaran. The deathly look that both received from the helm of the yellow hulled Dart was accompanied by his low vocal tone ‘I was on Starboard!’ While inspecting the damage from spearing the Dart broadside, profuse apologies were dished out from Yperman and lucky enough the residue fibreglass floating in the sea had been shed from the nose of the Prindle and the sharp-edged Dart had escaped unscathed.
With all this going on and Team Walters incredibly coming up with a make-shift fix-it to get back to the start line in time, Neil K as the rescue boat Race Officer only had the option of raising his distinctive woolly Tibetan hat as a start flag and shouted out the five minutes. His long flowing hair emulated the seaweed drifting below him and was the very picture of a General on his Stallion in the heat of battle. A sight to behold with his hat held in the air, he shouted Charge! and let the fleet away on their first leg of the race.
And what a first race it was. With a planned triangle for 2 laps and all marks to port, there was a extremely tight trio of two Prindles and the ‘repaired’ Dart neck and neck to every mark. At the back of the fleet Paul D and Keith B, both sailing single-handily, had got away slowly, probably keeping back to avoid the hell raisers at the front. The lead changed on every angled leg of the triangle in every lap, with the Prindles maintaining a tighter upwind bearing but with the ‘repaired’ Dart maintaining speed on the downwind legs. Therefore with the race finishing on a downwind leg, the ‘repaired’ Dart pipped Yperman no further than 10 yards in front. Twin Needles with trapesing crew Brody, grandson of helm Rich C, came in close behind for third place.
When Paul and Keith had crossed the line to finish, the fleet was joined by the pedigree Nacra 500S of Joe E with Kim L as his rookie crew for the second race. Unfortunately, due to the hot conditions, Keith B was suffering from headaches out on the water and gallantly announced he was retiring as a safety precaution.
It was Neil’s time again. His trusty crew of Toby and Chas pitched the Rib at high-speed circling around all competitors while he shouted down the minutes. With a nod from Toby on the stopwatch, the Tibetan was thrust in the air and the fleet sped from the line. The wind had increased by a knot or two and again became a three-horse contest as per the first race. Surprisingly the Nacra was not firing on all cylinders and therefore no quarter was given between the leading trio as they stayed closely grouped the entire race.
Like so many times experienced this season, Yperman had been contesting for its first ever win, only to be agonisingly scalped again near the finish line. This time pushed into third place at the death by Twin Needles who had shadowed the lead changes the entire race and squeezed in second. Honours go to Greg & Gary W who had swapped helm for the second race and sailed flawless course angles showing how to maintain speed around every mark.
Big thanks to Neil, Chas and the return of Toby, which was great to see him during his busy scholarship.
Final Results:
Race 1: 1st Team Walters, 2nd Yperman, 3rd Twin Needles, 4th Paul D, 5th Keith B.
Race 2: 1st Team Walters, 2nd Twin Needles, 3rd Yperman , 4th Nacra 500S, 5th Paul D.