by Adam Hilton
by Mandy Pollard
Frostbite 4
John Dabbs and Linda Spiller in the Bosun set off first on the beat from the Home 2 start line towards the West White buoy and made the buoy without the need to tack. But by then the faster Lasers of Bob Sampson and, at the buoy, Nathan Pollard had got ahead and were running up the Lake to Pinkie in winds that were moderate in strength and, by Tamar Lake standards, stable in direction. That is not to say that helms could rely on being able to beat from Home 2 to West White in one tack; on some laps the wind permitted it; on others it had shifted a few points and two tacks were required.
The front two Lasers lapped with a very stable distance between them until the last lap when, on the run from Dam Green to the finish line, someone put a rocket behind Nathan Pollard’s boat and he sailed smoothly past Bob Sampson’s to take the victory on the water.
Boats continued to pass the Dabbs/Spiller Bosun. Sue Murray’s Laser 4.7 was up to third by the end of the first lap and would have stayed there had not a jammed sheet permitted Dave Perrett’s slow-starting but recovering Solo to overtake her. The handicaps didn’t take any notice; they gave Sue Murray first place.
- Sue Murray (Laser 4.7)
- John Dabbs and Linda Spiller (Bosun)
- Dave Perrett (Solo)
- Nathan Pollard (Laser Full)
- Brian Pollard and Alara Wedgwood (Bosun)
- Bob Sampson (Laser)
- Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
Icicle 4
There were now two Solo dinghies in the fleet which seemed to galvanise Dave Perrett into action because he crossed the line first, kept the lead across to West White and remained ahead of the second Laser, the slow-starting Bob Sampson, until well into the race. Nathan Pollard led and, this time crossing the finish line five minutes before the first boat with a better handicap (Adam Hilton’s Solo), was allowed by statistics to keep his victory. Dave Perrett had been the lead Solo throughout the race until a little confusion about which buoy to round and an unhelpful puff of wind lost him the place. Vicki Duncalf, finishing as in the first race about ten minutes after the Lasers but just in front of the Pollard/Wedgwood Bosun, was this time promoted to second place.
- Nathan Pollard (Laser Full)
- Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
- Bob Sampson (Laser Full)
- John Dabbs and Linda Spiller (Bosun)
- Sue Murray (Laser 4.7)
- Adam Hilton (Solo)
- Dave Perrett (Solo)
- Brian Pollard and Alara Wedgwood (Bosun)
Many thanks to Geoff Floyd who ran the races and to Mandy Pollard who took the photographs.