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.

1. John Dabbs and Linda Spiller    1:08:16
2. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert    1:10:39
3. 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.

1. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert     0:48:00
2. John Dabbs and Linda Spiller     0:48:44
3. 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

by Adam Hilton

Mandy Pollard 

Bosun Algae 1 (Plus)

John Dabbs and Linda Spiller led the Bosun race from start to finish, but the contest between the other Bosuns (Roger Heasman with David Perrett and Brian Pollard with Cilla Gilbert) was rather more ding-dong with the Heasman/Perrett boat eventually taking second place.

But on a day of seductively sailable winds coming over the western hills many helms chose their single-handers rather than getting into Bosuns.

Nathan Pollard, the Officer of the day, designed a beat for the first leg by using the Devon half of the Home 2 start line and a bunch of boats clustered at the far end of the line ready to tack across to West. Jane Anderson’s Laser Radial started first and retained the lead around the first buoy. However Bob Sampson’s second starting Laser Full soon took over the lead and retained it. The Dabbs/Spiller Bosun started third but, as with the other Bosuns, could not point as high as the single-handers and had to tack much earlier on the way to West allowing Adam Hilton (Solo) and Paul Anderson (Laser Full) to get away. The course was ingenious, involving a visit to West on the way back down the Lake as well as on the way up. This confused a number of helms and led to some retirements but the northwesterlies were quite capable of producing  capsize-inducing gusts; they contributed to retirements too.

Bosun Race

1. John Dabbs and Linda Spiller (Bosun),
2. Roger Heasman and David Perrett (Bosun)
3. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)

Plus Race

1. Bob Sampson (Laser Full)
2. Jane Anderson (Laser Radial)
3. Adam Hilton (Solo)
4. Paul Anderson (Laser Full)

Retired: Geof Floyd (Solo), Graham Joyce (Laser Full), Vicki Duncalf (Topper)

Pursuit 1

In Pursuit races the slowest boats start first and the faster boats follow at intervals set by their handicaps and try to reach the front. The lead boat after roughly an hour’s sailing wins. In somewhat stronger winds, Vicki Duncalf’s Topper started first but was caught on lap 2 of a more conventional course with a home startline  and a trip up to Pinky via West. All three Bosuns got past her; so did Bob Sampson’s Laser. But nobody put their boat in front of Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert’s Bosun. Roger Heasman and Dave Perrett’s sister dinghy followed them, with Bob Sampson’s Laser getting up to third and Jane Anderson’s Radial rising from seventh at the end of lap 1 to fourth at the finish.

1. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)
2. Roger Heasman and David Perrett (Bosun)
3. Bob Sampson (Laser Full)
4. Jane Anderson (Laser Radial)
5. Adam Hilton (Solo)
6. John Dabbs and Linda Spiller (Bosun)
7. Geoff Floyd (Solo)
8. Ian Chatterton (Enterprise)
9. Vicki Duncalf (Topper)

Retired: Paul Anderson (Laser Full), Graham Joyce (Laser Full)

by Adam Hilton

Mandy Pollard

Barnwell 6

Nathan Pollard (Laser Full) started first and was first round Dam Green. Bob Sampson (Laser Radial) started third but was able to reach Dam Green without tacking which put him ahead of second starting Roger Heasman (with David Perrett, Bosun). Adam Hilton and Geoff Floyd had abandoned their Solos because of the high winds – force 4 and 5 gusting 6 – and started the fourth Bosun behind John Dabbs and Linda Spiller in theirs. That had been reversed by the time they went about at Dam Green, the Hilton/Floyd boat only staying ahead a short time. There were two other Bosuns in the race; Brian Pollard’s, with Cilla Gilbert, and Colin and Louise Witchell’s, which was flying a set of small sails that made it easier to handle in the winds but uncompetitive. Brian Pollard got past the Hilton/Floyd Bosun on the first lap and on the second John Dabbs got past the Heasman/Perret one only to have Roger Heasman go ahead again before the end of the lap.  The Dabbs/Spiller boat ended the race as the lead Bosun but retired because of a missed buoy.

At the front the order was reversed when Nathan Pollard capsized at West and Bob Sampson took over the lead until losing it again on lap 2. The gap between the two Lasers remained small despite the difference in sail power, Nathan Pollard, with more square meters of canvas, probably having to spill more wind than Bob Sampson. The handicaps put Sampson back ahead.

1. Bob Sampson (Laser Radial)
2. Nathan Pollard (Laser Full)
3. Roger Heasman and David Perrett (Bosun)
4. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)
5. Adam Hilton and Geoff Floyd (Bosun)
6. Louise and Colin Witchell (Bosun)

Retired: John Dabbs and Linda Spiller (Bosun), Robin Spiller (Streaker Wave)

Sailboat 6

The place to be at the start was up against the leeward buoy, enabling the skipper to get to Dam Green without tacking. Consequently there was a good deal of pushing and shoving to get that coveted position, some of it not within the rules, which led to the post race retirement of Bob Sampson. Adam Hilton (Solo) was luckier and, powered by a passing gust, slipped in front of Brian Pollard’s Bosun to take the next-to-buoy position and make it to Dam Green in the lead. Following was Bob Sampson (now with a full size sail on his Laser) Brian Pollard and John Dabbs, who subsequently did a penalty turn. The Sampson Laser soon overtook the Solo and Nathan Pollard’s Laser was quickly free of the double-handers and in third place. He then got past the Solo near West on lap 3. The leaders thereafter became increasingly far apart, a minute between Sampson and Pollard at the finish, the Solo nearly four minutes back.

Robin Spiller, now with a full-size sail on his Streaker, had to make his way through the fleet after the start and did get past the sparring Bosuns only to slip back again. Geoff Floyd had put a small sail on his Solo, was already regretting it by the time he took to the water and was not competitive. The Bosuns were still changing places on the last lap and finished with John Dabbs in front, Brian Pollard twenty seconds behind and Roger Heasman another thirty seconds back.

1. Nathan Pollard (Laser Full)
2. John Dabbs and Linda Spiller (Bosun)
3. Adam Hilton (Solo)
4. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)
5. Roger Heasman and David Perrett (Bosun)
6. Robin Spiller (Streaker)
7. Geoff Floyd (Solo)

Retired: Bob Sampson (Laser Full)

Grateful thanks were given to Sue Murray who ran the races and to Mandy Pollard who took the photos.

by Adam Hilton

Barnwell 5

Jane Anderson led across the line and around Dam Green and kept her Laser Radial at the front for the rest of the race. The winds were southeasterly, light and highly variable in strength and direction but never actually disappeared. Second and third to start were Sue Murray (Laser Radial) and Adam Hilton (Solo). Paul Anderson got his Laser Full past the Solo on the first lap but a muddle over course buoys put him back subsequently. There were four Bosuns in the race. John Dabbs with Linda Spiller led them at the end of each lap but Roger Heasman with David Perrett changed places with Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert a time or two. Colin and Louise Witchell had the misfortune to run aground – they were by no means alone in finding the bottom of an emptying Tamar Lake – and retired. Touring calmly and consistently in seventh on the water was John Buckett in his Otter and pulling himself up from sixth at the end of the first lap to fourth at the finish was Robin Spiller in his Streaker. The handicaps put him down to sixth again.

1. Jane Anderson (Laser Radial)
2. Sue Murray (Laser Radial)
3. Adam Hilton (Solo)
4. John Dabbs and Linda Spiller (Bosun)
5. John Buckett (Otter)
6. Robin Spiller (Streaker)
7. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)
8. Roger Heasman and David Perrett (Bosun)
9. Paul Anderson (Laser Full)

Retired: Louise and Colin Witchell (Bosun)

Sailboat 5

Robin Spiller (Streaker) began his race brilliantly, pulling away from the first-over-the-line Radial of Sue Murray and the third-starting Laser Full of Nathan Pollard. The Streaker was still ahead at the top of the Lake and only lost the lead having to go back to a missed Zebra. A further confusion at Dam Green meant retirement. Over lunch the winds had turned around one hundred and eighty degrees and started blowing from points around the north west. They were still very gentle and the race took even Nathan Pollard, the winner on the water and also after the handicaps were applied, nearly an hour and a quarter to complete. On the beat up to Pinkie Jane Anderson (Laser Radial) and Adam Hilton (Solo) added themselves to the leading bunch, the Laser taking over third place on the first lap and second on the second. The Solo was briefly ahead of Sue Murray, lost the place but edged past the Radial and into third place while running back towards the Dam on the second lap. The Dabbs/Spiller Bosun again led its Heasman/Perrett and Pollard/Gilbert sisters.

1. Nathan Pollard (Laser Full)
2. Jane Anderson (Laser Radial)
3. Adam Hilton (Solo)
4. John Dabbs and Linda Spiller (Bosun)
5. Sue Murray (Laser Radial)
6. Roger Heasman and David Perrett (Bosun)
7. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)

Retired: Robin Spiller (Streaker)

Grateful thanks were given to Graham Joyce who was assisted as Officer of the Day by Nicky Buckett.

Midweek Mug 1

The first Wednesday race of the season was held under dark clouds but was powered by very usable force two and three northwesterlies with, by the standards of Tamar Lake, very few gusts. John Buckett’s nine buoy course had the seven strong fleet beating to Inlet and across to West, up to Pinkie and then running back to Dam Green with enough buoys in between to catch out Bob Sampson when his big-sailed Laser was in the lead. Sue Murray (Laser Radial) was first away with Linda Spiller’s Radial and then Bob Sampson just behind, but after West Bob took the lead. Adam Hilton’s Solo managed to beat between Middle and Pinkie without tacking which brought him back up to the three leading Lasers. Then on the return run to the Dam the Solo’s big sail took it past Linda Spiller’s Radial where it stayed until its skipper capsized it on lap 2. Robin Spiller’s Streaker raced Geoff Floyd’s Solo for fourth place and got it, both on the water and, their handicaps being similar, in the results. Leila Farmer, sailing the Hartley 12 solo, raced Louise and Colin Witchell’s Bosun and beat it on the water but not when the handicaps were applied. At the finish Bob Sampson had regained the lead after having to sail back to his missed buoy. He had lapped the back markers and had a minute and a half’s lead over Sue Murray. That was not enough to overcome the Radial’s advantageous handicap but was just enough – one second of corrected time – to keep him ahead of third place Linda Spiller.

1. Sue Murray (Laser Radial)
2. Bob Sampson (Laser Full)
3. Linda Spiller (Laser Radial)
4. Robin Spiller (Streaker)
5. Geoff Floyd (Solo)
6. Louise and Colin Witchell (Bosun)
7. Leila Farmer (Hartley 12)

Retired: Adam Hilton (Solo)

John Buckett was a characteristically efficient Officer of the Day. Many thanks to him.

by Adam Hilton

Mandy Pollard

Barnwell 3

Jane Anderson, eyeing the force 5 gusts shooting up the Lake from the south, would have chosen to sail her Topper, had it not been damaged in the winter storms by an adjacent flying dinghy. Instead she chose her Laser with a little 4.7 sail, crossed the start line at the front of the fleet but a little before the horn. She had to return and began the race at the back of the field. However she had worked her way up to third place by half way through lap 3. At the front were the Pollard brothers in full-sailed Lasers, James initially leading but already overtaken by Inlet. They finished more than six minutes in front of the rest of the field. Behind them raged a race long battle between Mike Coley’s Laser Full and Adam Hilton’s Solo, the Solo eventually triumphing. John Dabbs’ maroon Bosun (Linda Spiller as crew) led Brian Pollard’s yellow one (Cilla Gilbert crewing) with Robin Spiller’s Streaker, slowed by its small size sail, in the mix. Halfway through the race the wind chose to turn right round and blow from the northwest.

1. Nathan Pollard (Laser Full)
2. James Pollard (Laser Full)
3. Jane Anderson (Laser 4.7)
4. John Dabbs and Linda Spiller (Bosun)
5. Adam Hilton (Solo)
6. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)
7. Mike Coley (Laser Full)
8. Robin Spiller (Streaker Wave)

Sailboat 3

Over lunch the wind dropped but it returned, still from the northwest, for the start of Sailboat 3 along with some dim and murky conditions. Nathan Pollard’s Laser led away and stayed in front on a course no longer starting towards the Dam but aimed straight up to Pinkie. Adam Hilton’s Solo followed but further reduced the already depleted fleet by retiring. The Pollard/Gilbert Bosun was third to start but Jane Anderson, fourth starting, was already on its beam as they passed the inlet and she stayed at second from then on but was not far enough ahead of the Dabbs/Spiller Bosun to overcome the double-handers’ handicap advantage when the results were announced

1. John Dabbs and Linda Spiller (Bosun)
2. Jane Anderson (Laser 4.7)
3. Nathan Pollard (Laser Full)
4. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)

Retired Adam Hilton (Solo)

Geoff Floyd was Officer of the Day: many thanks to him and to Mandy Pollard who took the photographs.

by Adam Hilton

Mandy Pollard

Barnwell 1

For the first race of the season the sun shone, the waters of Tamar Lake shimmered, but the wind was largely absent. A little flurry of breeze before the off misled much of the fleet into thinking that a fast start might be had by charging up to the line from near the Dam. In the event the wind all but disappeared and these boats were left slack-sailed and took up to five and a half minutes to make their start. Jane Anderson, with a full sail on her Laser was not so unwise, started first, although even she took half a minute to cross the line after the horn blew. She was never headed, although Linda Spiller, with the same boat/sail combination, chased hard and threatened as they reached Pinkie at the top of the course on lap1. Three Bosuns were in the race. The first to start was Roger Heasman’s (new-comer David Longfellow crewing) and his was the first to finish. At the end John Dabbs’ Bosun, John Buckett the crew, was ahead of Brian Pollard with Cilla Gilbert, but that hadn’t been the case for the whole race. Adam Hilton and Geoff Floyd were in Solos which, with their big sails, should go very well in light winds. They finished third and fourth on the water, the handicap particularly cruel to the Floyd boat. Robin Spiller, in his familiar Streaker, was fourth at Pinkie first time around but retired; you need very good pads to kneel in a Streaker for two half-hour laps!

1. Jane Anderson (Laser Full)
2. Linda Spiller (Laser Full)
3. Adam Hilton (Solo)
4. Roger Heasman and David Longfellow (Bosun)
5. John Dabbs and John Buckett (Bosun)
6. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)
7. Geoff Floyd (Solo)

Retired: Robin Spiller (Solo)

Sailboat 1

Over lunch Force 2 or 3 winds had appeared from various points around north and they powered a very acceptable race with three much faster laps. Nathan Pollard joined the fleet in his Laser Full. He started third but soon took the lead, the Laser pointing much higher than anything else as the fleet tacked up to Pinkie. First starting Jane Anderson had radically reduced sail, to a 4.7, and was second at the top of the course and at the finish. The handicap gave her the victory. John Dabbs, Adam Hilton now as crew, started second, lost nothing by being well to leeward of the others and stayed ahead in the Bosun race-within-a-race. The Heasman Bosun led the Pollard sister dinghy at the start and the end of the first lap but not at the finish. Geoff Floyd started his Solo at the back but succeeded in overhauling two of the Bosuns.

1. Jane Anderson (Laser 4.7)
2. Nathan Pollard (Laser Full)
3. John Dabbs and Adam Hilton (Bosun)
4. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)
5. Roger Heasman and David Longfellow (Bosun)
6. Geoff Floyd (Solo)

Many thanks were given to Paul Anderson, for running the races and to Mandy Pollard for taking the photographs.