by Mel Sampson
Mel Sampson
Bosun Algae 2
Despite the nice breeze, the morning’s Bosun racing began in doubt. The extremely low water level was to be shared with blue green algae, 60 participants of the Feeder Masters qualifier, three gig boats and a crocodile. Nevertheless the three Bosuns all left the pontoon with small sails for a fair competition. The course of six laps began with a silent start, to avoid offending the fish, with Colin and Louise crossing the line in the lead and perfectly on time. Confusion over the start resulted in Brian and Cilla having a two minute delay in crossing the start line, while John and Linda gave hot pursuit, taking the lead by West White.
Following an exciting reach back to Middle and run down to Dam Green, John and Linda were first across the line at the end of lap one, in nine minutes. Louise and Colin held onto second until their second visit of West White where Brian and Cilla overtook. For a moment it looked as if Louise and Colin might catch them with a strong run to Dam Green; however the wind dropping a little made the beat back to Home Two, while trying to avoid the Angler’s tight lines off the entrance to Inlet, quite a challenge.
John and Linda found a better breeze and at the end of lap three were four minutes ahead of Brian and Cilla in second. Louise and Colin retired on their third attempt to West White having run aground and then lost the pin in their main block.
Although overtaken by a gig on the penultimate run Brian and Cilla made good use of the increased breeze, steadily closing the gap between first and second, down to three minutes by the final lap. Despite John and Linda’s 360 buoy rounding penalty being hampered by an aerator they held on to win the race, with a lead of 2mins 23 seconds in the end.
- John Dabbs and Linda Spiller  1:08:16
- Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert  1:10:39
- Colin and Louise Witchell      Retired
Bosun Algae 3
Not to be put off Louise and Colin fixed their mainsail and joined the afternoon race. The morning’s course having worked well remained unchanged but for five laps in the afternoon. Having dropped off a little for lunch the wind helpfully picked up again for the second race. While John and Linda held the edge crossing the start line, Brian and Cilla had the better position, asserting their lead by the first mark. Brian and Cilla maintained the lead through the reach while John and Linda closed in on the run, rounding Dam Green just ahead.
Cilla and Brian’s decision to tack quickly and err to the Devon side was an excellent one and saw them back into first position at the end of lap one with a 30 second lead over John and Linda. Louise and Colin lost several minutes rounding a gig and completed lap one 3 minutes behind the lead. Brian and Cilla built on their lead in lap two with a perfect run increasing the gap between first and second to 40 seconds, the Devon side again providing the cleaner wind for the beat to the line.
On lap three we saw Brian and Cilla in another race against a gig, West White to Middle, which they won squarely albeit with John and Linda holding onto their tail. John and Linda fairly flew the penultimate reach closing the gap to 30 seconds. By the time the lead boat begun lap five the wind had dropped off, making the final lap longer for all of the boats. Despite the hot competition, Brian and Cilla won the race, crossing the line 44 seconds ahead for a silent finish.
- Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert   0:48:00
- John Dabbs and Linda Spiller   0:48:44
- Colin and Louise Witchell      0:57:50
With thanks to Robin Spiller for being Officer of the Day and to Mel Sampson for assisting and time keeping