Sponsored by Gill and Marchand Petit
A strong fleet of 25 Twelves, including 5 local boats, collected at
Salcombe for the second event in the 2008 Gill Series. For the
first race the competitors faced a brisk and shifty NE to Easterly
breeze, with a strongly flooding spring tide pushing them over the start
line and a black flag from the race officer just to spice things up at
the off. Frances Gifford and Sophie Mackley opted to risk the
chance of lighter winds on the more sheltered shore in order to make the
best of the wind bend and the current, and this paid off into a
comfortable lead for the first of many trips through the notorious
“Bag”. A challenging blast up towards Kingsbridge and back began
to sort out the rest of the fleet, with Antony and Jo Gifford and John
and Mandy Thornton establishing their positions, chasing hard behind
Frances and Sophie and setting the race up for some challenging tactics.
The key decision was when and how often to cross the channel on the run
back downwind and Antony and Jo judged this correctly to take the lead
just at the final leeward mark and take the race from Frances and
Sophie, with the Thorntons coming in a close third.
Day 2 dawned bright and sunny but with considerably less wind and
considerably more hangovers amongst the competitors after a lively
evening of pie, beer and skittles organised by the Yacht Club.
After a short postponement so that there was at least some wind in the
harbour, the fleet got away first time on the long trek up to Gerston in
a foul tide and generally ghost-like conditions. The Giffords were
early leaders, chased by Gavin and Sabina Willis and Jon Ibbotson and
Charlotte Stewart. As the fleet bunched up and the wind died
completely, Jon and Char managed to find a zephyr nobody else caught and
built up an unchallenged lead. Graham Camm and Zoe Ballantyne
also got their sniddle hats on and broke free, chased by the Giffords.
With the majority of the fleet now stranded in a bunch unable to break
free from the eddying tide, the few that got away built big gaps between
them so when the wind eventually returned there was little more place
changing at the top end.
The lunch break saw the wind come and go, but it had definitely gone by
the time of the start of race 3. As well as a lack of wind and a
strong foul tide, the fleet now had to contend with a heavy swell coming
into the harbour, making it particularly difficult to cheat the tide by
hugging the shore. A fair amount of carnage ensued at the start
with some boats well behind the line, caught in one of many windless
patches, some slightly over and others having held their position well
above the line unable to return behind it in time for the start.
As gusts came and went there was much place changing as boats rode the
gusts out into the tide to protect their positions then fell back in the
current as the wind died away. Jon and Char’s persistence in
hugging the shore paid off and they again built an unchallenged lead,
followed by the Giffords and then Frances and Sophie. With the
wind having pretty much disappeared for the day and the other fleets all
having abandoned racing, the race officer was forced to shorten at the
first opportunity so these positions held to the finish.
Going into the final race, Jon and Char had a narrow lead over the
Giffords on countback, with Frances and Sophie still capable of
overhauling the Giffords. In much more lively conditions, Frances
and Sophie made a clean start and built a lead before the Bag with the
Giffords close behind in the chasing pack. Jon and Char were left
well back after doing turns on the start line, so the podium places were
wide open. Jon and Char gradually got themselves back into the
race and eventually overhauled the Giffords to take control of the
event. Graham and Zoe sailed consistently in the varying breeze to
eat away at Frances and Sophie’s lead, and eventually caught them on the
final run to take line honours.
Overall results
N3494 - Jon Ibbotson and Charlotte Stewart
N3514 – Antony & Jo Gifford
N3431 – Frances Gifford and Sophie Mackley
N3492 – Graham Camm and Zoe Ballantyne
Admirals Cup
1st N3361 Patrick Hamilton & Tom Ballantine
