Six boats arrived at Derwent reservoir ready for a days sailing amongst
the stunning Northumberland scenery. The forecast had promised
10mph and sun, the reality was more like cloudy and 20-30mph.
The 12s joined the club fleets and borrowed the first start from the
performance fleet. Mark and Emma Simpson were first to the
windward mark, followed by Howard Chadwick and Helen Nicholson and then
Neil and Yvonne McInnes. The crews were then treated to two
screaming reaches back and forwards across the reservoir along with two
gybes. Team McInnes gained an overlap at one of the gybe marks and
took second place from team Chadwick/Nicholson. Further down the
fleet the crews were coping well with the windy conditions. Angus
and Rohan Beyts gained in confidence and worked their way up to 4th
place. Tim Gatti and Katie McInnes, sailing Gnasher, were
struggling to get to grips with their newly refurbished boat. So
much so that Katie failed to find the toe straps on 3 separate occasions
in the first race alone. The wind speed increased as the race
progressed. Team McInnes went for a dip at one of the gybe marks,
allowing Team Chadwick back into second. The Simpsons took first
place followed by Chadwick/Nicholson and the McInnes’. The
conditions took their toll on the other boats. Tim and Katy having
been lapped retired. The Beyts and Howard Elcock crewed by Julia
Martin, both came to grief within 2 legs of the finish line, both boats
failing to recover from offwind capsizes.
The fleet was reduced to four with Howard E and Julia and Angus and
Rohan deciding to stay ashore. The wind abated for race two and
shifted shortly before the start. The Simpsons and the McInnes’
were both caught out by the wind shift and were over the line.
Howard and Helen lead around the first lap followed by Tim and Katy.
The Simpsons and the McInnes’ fought back in to contention. Howard
and Helen tried to sink one of the course marks with their boom and the
resulting penalty allowed the McInnes’ though into second place.
Mark and Emma took first followed by Neil and Yvonne with Howard and
Helen third.
Race three saw the wind strength increase back to F5 and up to F6 later
in the race. Mark and Emma stretched out a good lead, eventually
taking first place. Howard and Helen had sheet problems just after
the start which allowed Neil and Yvonne into second place which they
held until the finish, followed by Howard/Helen and Tim and Katy.
With some big gust arriving on the last lap it made a very exciting
finish to an excellent days sailing. Many thanks to Derwent
Reservoir Sailing Club for hosting the event.
Results
