Bosun Plus 4
Four Bosuns with very wet crews competed for the lunchtime race. At the gun, it was Roger Heasman with crew Linda Spiller who were quickest off the mark with Bob Sampson a close second. Behind them came Brian Pollard with crew Cilla Gilbert and John Dabbs with crew Vicki Duncalf following. On the first lap Bob managed to push Roger back into second place and once the boats had settled into the course there was to be no further overtaking. Despite several skirmishes for all of the positions there was not enough wind or shifts to allow the trailing boats to be more competitive. A late freshening of the wind encouraged some more action but it was too late to produce any difference to the sequence that left Brian and Cilla just doing enough to hold off John and Vicki for third place.
1. Bob Sampson (Bosun)
2. Roger Heasman & Linda Spiller (Bosun)
3. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)
4. John Dabbs and Vicki Duncalf (Bosun)
Pursuit 5
A sudden freshening of the wind minutes before the start left several sailors wishing they’d opted for extra crew or smaller sails for the afternoon race. Vicki Duncalf (Topper) was first away and managed to stay in the lead until late in the race when pipped on the last lap by James Pollard (Blaze). John Dabbs (Bosun) and Linda Spiller (Laser) were not too far behind but both got caught out by the strengthening winds with John the first for the early bath saying that he “just stuggled to control the boat†and Linda then throwing in the towel after saying it was like “Wrestling with a boar†(Though what experience she had of this cannot be verified). Lap 2 saw Bob Sampson bowing to the strength of the wind when he said “The mast was shaking so much, I could see disaster looming†leaving just 6 out of 9 starters to continue. The others proved slightly more resilient and Roger Heasman manfully handling his Bosun alone though with some difficulty. The remaining 6 after 45 minutes were 1.Vicki Duncalf (Topper) 2. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun) 3. James Pollard (Blaze) 4. Nathan Pollard (Laser) 5. Roger Heasman (Bosun) and 6. Jane Anderson (Laser Radial). As with all Pursuits, the boats got ever closer to each other towards the end of the race and within the space of 15 minutes James Pollard had eased out Vicki Duncalf for first place leaving Vicki second. Nathan Pollard had passed his Dad Brian to finish third and his Dad 4th and Jane Anderson sailed past Roger Heasman to finish fifth with him a fighting sixth and last place. Well done to James, Nathan and Jane for fighting back hard from a large time handicap and well done too to Vicki, Brian and Roger for holding out for so long. All sailors enjoyed a good cuppa and slice of John Duncalf’s birthday cake after battling the very strong gusts in the afternoon and looking forward to a well earned rest this evening.
1. James Pollard (Blaze)
2. Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
3. Nathan Pollard (Laser)
4. Brian & Cilla (Bosun)
5. Jane Anderson (Laser Radial)
6. Roger Heasman (Bosun)
Retired: Linda (Laser), Bob (Bosun), John Dabbs (Bosun)
Thanks to John Duncalf as Office of the Day, Paul Anderson as the reporter and Mandy Pollard who took the photographs.
Our best wishes to James Pollard in his new exciting career.