27 June race report

AM: Barnwell 3

John Dabbs in his Gull won this race on handicap. He was ninth to cross the finish line but only eight minutes behind Steve Axford in the full-sailed Laser who finished first. Another major beneficiary of the handicaps was Vicki Duncalf in the Topper. She finished tenth, nine minutes behind Steve, but was awarded third place. It was another lovely Sunday with light and highly variable easterlies which disappeared altogether for minutes at a time leaving the fleet scattered motionless across a glassy Lake. The officers of the day, Geoff Floyd and Robin Spiller, shortened the race to two laps. The leading bunch consisted of Lasers (Nathan Pollard, Steve Axford (who shared the lead between them) and Linda Spiller with full sails, Jane Anderson and Penny Abbott (with Radials) and a lone Solo (Adam Hilton’s). They all finished within a minute of Steve’s time but the full sailed Lasers got demoted in the results. The second bunch (the Bosuns, the Gull, the Topper, Bob Bennett’s Laser Radial) were also pretty close together for much of the race, but were left some way behind when they got becalmed at Inlet and subjected to angry glares from offshore fishermen.

Results:

1. John Dabbs (Gull)

2. Adam Hilton (Solo)

3. Vicki Duncalf (Topper)

4. Jane Anderson (Laser Radial)

5. Penny Abbott (Laser Radial)

6. Steve Axford (Laser Full)

7. Nathan Pollard (Laser Full)

8. Linda Spiller (Laser Full)

9. Sally Wills and Roger Heasman (Bosun)

10. Bob Bennett (Laser Radial)

11. Cilla Gilbert and Brian Pollard (Bosun)

PM: Tamar Memorial Trophy 5

A revised course omitted the fisherman infested Inlet and the wind held up most of the time. There was enough of it for the leaders to be doing fifteen minute laps, four of them within the hour. But at the other end of the fleet it took half an hour longer – the tail-enders were being lapped – so there were no major promotions by the handicap system. Again Steve Axford led, from the off this time, and he was four minutes ahead of Linda Spiller by the end. Jane Anderson was second round Dam Green, the first buoy, but third at the end of each lap with Adam Hilton consistently fourth. Roger Heasman, now helming the Bosun with Sally Wills as crew, was well up for the first couple of laps and kept his fifth place in front of Nathan Pollard, now flying a Radial, but was ten minutes behind the Solo at the end.

Results:

1. Steve Axford (Laser Full)

2. Adam Hilton (Solo)

3. Linda Spiller (Laser Full)

4. Jane Anderson (Laser Radial)

5. Roger Heasman and Sally Wills (Bosun)

6. John Buckett (Otter)

7. John Dabbs (Gull)

8. Nathan Pollard (Laser Radial)

9. Penny Abbott (Laser Radial)

10. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)

Retired: Vicki Duncalf (Topper), Bob Bennett (Laser Radial)

Grateful thanks were given to Geoff Floyd and Robin Spiller for running the races and to Mandy Pollard for her photographs.

AM: Sailboat 1

A glorious sunny day with light and highly variable winds coming from many points between north and east brought thirteen boats to the startline. A knot of Duncalf Toppers, the Jane Anderson Laser (Radial) and the club Kestrel (Adam Hilton and John Dabbs) managed to untie itself at the extreme windward end of the line with the Kestrel getting away first to the next buoy. It was not a good day for Toppers – too little wind – and they were left behind by the inevitable Lasers (Anderson, Pollard, Murray) and the Heasman/Wills Bosun. The Kestrel’s light weight and large expanse of canvas took it down the Lake but when the breeze collapsed the rest of the fleet caught up and three of the Lasers overtook, the double-hander’s lead being clawed back later in the lap. This was a pattern to be repeated, with variations, on subsequent laps with the Kestrel only managing to steal first place by a foredeck at the finish, with Jane Anderson recorded by the eagle-eyed Officers of the Day (Axford and Joyce) as two seconds and Sue Murray thirteen seconds behind. And then the Kestrel’s somewhat challenging handicap tossed it down the order!

Results:

1. Jane Anderson (Laser Radial)

2. Sue Murray (Laser Radial)

3. Roger Heasman and Sally Wills (Bosun)

4. Robin Spiller (Streaker)

5. Adam Hilton and John Dabbs (Kestrel)

6. Jane Chadney (Laser Radial)

7. Toby Tobias (Bosun)

8. Vicki Duncalf (Topper)

9. Penny Abbott (Laser Full)

10. Nathan Pollard (Laser Full)

11. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)

12. Linda Spiller (Laser Full)

John Duncalf (Topper) rtd;  Mike and Viki Herbert-Coulson (Wayfarer) DNS

PM: Pursuit 1

Vicki Duncalf started first and the last boats (Mike and Viki Herbert-Coulson in their pretty new Wayfarer and the Laser of Jane Anderson) started seventeen minutes later. The Wayfarer cut through the field ending up fourth, with the Kestrel, which had started two minutes earlier, staying ahead and finishing third. Nathan Pollard got his Laser past five boats and had a commanding lead at the end. Robin Spiller (Streaker) managed four and finished second a little ahead of the Kestrel.

Results:

1. Nathan Pollard (Laser Full)

2. Robin Spiller (Streaker)

3. Adam Hilton and John Dabbs (Kestrel)

4. Mike and Viki Herbert-Coulson (Wayfarer)

5. Jane Chadney (Laser Radial)

6. Jane Anderson (Laser Radial)

7. Roger Heasman (Streaker)

8. Penny Abbott (Laser Full)

9. Linda Spiller (Laser Full)

10. Vicki Duncalf (Topper)

11. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Tasar)

12. Toby Tobias and Sally Wills (Bosun)

Grateful thanks were given to Steve Axford and Graham Joyce who controlled an unruly fleet and to Mandy Pollard for photography.