Club Racing
A re-checking of the results for the Warm-Up Series has resulted in an adjustment of the final positions. The final rankings with a total of 28 competitors are: 1. Peter Bower (Phantom); 2. Paul Johnson (Solo); 3. Sarah Borman (Laser Radial); 4. Paul Griffiths (Solo); 5. Megan Borman (Optimist).
It is great to see the Optimist of a junior up there with the best - well done Megan.
Pre-Coppet Safety Briefing
Rolfe John, our indispensable senior race officer, ran an efficient briefing for the management of the sailing during Coppet Week which was well attended with eager volunteers. Thanks to Rolfe and all the volunteers (on and off the water) for their vital support of this key week of club activities.
Coppet Week
Dozens of would-be competitors must have wondered how their week's holiday was going to turn out as they drove through the most depressing winter-like mist and drizzle on Friday to get to Saundersfoot. What a brilliant reversal and restoration of hope on the Saturday with azure blue cloudless sky and hot sun. A mild breeze lured a number of eager sailors out for a spin round the bay before the true competition started on Sunday. The presence of high pressure to provide conditions like this however is usually associated with little wind and this proved to be the case on Sunday when the first race was run in a light breeze. This provided good warm-up conditions for a fleet of almost 70 boats representing some 25 different classes ranging from the ultra quick modern high-tech flying machines to the basic wooden dinghies of more than half a century ago.
Bank Holiday Monday saw only light airs at the 11 am scheduled start, but enough breeze picked up after a postponement for a gentle race, again dominated by the very fast handicap boats. It was good to note however that a Mirror dinghy - which is a pram shape (flat nose and stern - like a pram!) achieved a 14th and 17th position in these races.
Conditions on the Tuesday could not have contrasted more, with a good force 5 (20 knots) whipping up the bay and challenging even the best of the sailors. Greatly exhilarating, but as a number of competitors put it 'more a matter of survival rather than finessing the skills of racing!' A few boats had to retire, but no major breakages hopefully and a great sense of achievement for all those finishing. A welcome return to the clubhouse for reviving drinks together with chicken/burgers and chips.
This report has to be written at the start of the week so the remainder of the week's racing is conjecture at the time of writing. As always you could take your pick of the many and varied forecasts for the remaining period and choose what you want to believe!
My favourite prediction site suggested the following:- Wednesday: 16* with blustery F5 easing to 4 from the southwest with rain - perhaps even more exhilarating/challenging than the Tuesday! Thursday: 18* with a return to less cloudy conditions and a mild westerly breeze F1-2 allowing more relaxing sailing and the honing of technique over survival. Friday 20* a hot, hopefully sunny, day with easterly F3-4 which could provide some chop, but good sailing to finish the week off well. Readers can now can compare this with what actually happened!
A full report on Coppet Week will be provided in the next issue.
60th Anniversary Celebration
Tomorrow night (Saturday) everyone is invited to live entertainment at 8 pm on from our versatile local singer, Julie - together with food and drink to make the evening a really enjoyable one.
Skipper's Mate