Grafham water SC open meeting held on the 3rd October was the 6th and
penultimate event in the National 12 Gill series. After a lack of wind
at last years event GWSC certainly made up for it this year. With the
wind in the range force 6 to 8 the race officer Andy Palmer sent the 25
boat fleet out for the first of three scheduled races back to back for
triangle sausage courses.
In race 1 the early lead was taken by Richard Williams crewed by Lindsey
Iles, closely chased by Jon Ibbotson and Charlotte Stewart followed by
Ian Gore and Penny Yarwood in 3rd. Eventually it was Jon and Charlotte
who took the lead which they held to the finish followed home by Richard
and Lindsey in 2nd and Ian and Penny in 3rd. Further back there was
close racing between those who had managed to keep the capsize count
down to one or two.
Race 2 started with a few less boats and some with fresh crew. Tom
Stewart with Jeremy Carey crewing in the borrowed “Dead Cat Bounce”
showed the fleet how to do it up the first beat, going obscenely fast to
take a comfortable lead at the windward mark. Unfortunately for Tom and
Jeremy the gybe was not so slick and ended in a swim. After discovering
the mast was in 2 pieces when they righted the boat their racing was
over for the day. By the second beat the race seemed to be following the
same pattern as the first with Jon and Charlotte having a duel for the
lead with Richard and Lindsey followed by Steve and Joanne Sallis in
3rd. At the start of lap 2 the wind strength was at its peak and the
duel for the lead came to an abrupt end with simultaneous nose dive and
death roll by Jon and Charlotte and Richard and Lindsey. (Check
out the footage on YouTube) By the final
beat the fleet were fairly spread, but Steve and Joanne’s lead was still
tight with the main threat, other than capsize and gear failure, coming
from Hykeham club mates Andy Bayliss and Vicky Woods in second. At the
end of the final beat Andy and Vicky were blown over while tacking
leaving Steve and Joanne to take it steady down the final run to take
line honours. Andy and Vicky recovered from their capsize and were
joined by Graham Camm and Laura Humphrey for a race down the last run.
At the finish Graham and Laura just managed to take 2nd ahead of Andy
and Vicki in 3rd.
With the even more depleted fleet gathering around the start area for
the 3rd and final race the race Officer looked at the conditions and
called it a day, cancelling the final race. With no discard and both
races to count it was Steve and Joanne who took the overall win.
Here are some more videos:
Race 1 and
Race 2
Overall results
1st N3436 Steve and Joanne Sallis, Hykeham SC
2nd N3483 Jon Brown and Max Duce, Upper Thames SC
3rd N3481 Andy Bayliss and Vicki Woods, Hykeham SC
4th N3455 Caroline Martin and Sam Childs, Burghfield SC
5th N3492 Graham Camm and Laura Humphrey, Burghfield SC
Family
1st N3436 Steve and Joanne Sallis, Hykeham SC
2nd N3411 Gerald and Nick Copsey, St Edmundsbury SC
Admirals Cup
1st N3217 Philip David and Anthony Copsey, Yorkshire Ouse SC
2nd N2765 Tom White and Maria Gidley, Olton Mere SC
