Hykeham Sailing Club, 26th & 27th June 2010
Perfect hot and sunny conditions and a warm, friendly welcome greeted
the competitors at Hykeham SC for the Gill-sponsored National 12 Summer
Event, the 4th event in the Gill Series. The wind was a relatively
lively force 3 with hints of force 4, made all the more interesting by
the PROs, Pete Bayliss and Sam Mason, setting a course so that the fleet
could not only see all the sights of the lake, but they would also have
all the thrills and spills of regularly navigating through the rather
challenging calm patch in the lee of the island.
Locals Stevie and Joanne Sallis had the measure of the shifty wind and
led at the first mark. The gusty marginal planing conditions seemed to
give an advantage to those with wings on their rudders and, after
recovering from a mediocre first beat, Jon Ibbotson and Charlotte
Stewart worked their way to the front, followed home by Stevie and
Joanne and Andy McKee and Clare Hunter.
In the second race, early leaders Kevin Iles and Jane Wade were chased
by the Dead Cat Bounces of Stevie and Joanne and Jon and Char. These
three pulled away from the chasing pack and had a close race with much
place changing, until Jon and Char edged ahead to take the win from
Kevin and Jane with Stevie and Joanne taking third.
Despite the challengingly early start on Sunday morning after a lively
evening thanks to the Hykeham Sailing Club's hospitality, most
competitors were up well in advance of racing - perhaps excitement as
they prepared for the impending Summer Event Pursuit Race, or maybe
because they were driven out of their tents at an uncharacteristically
early hour due to the unbearable midsummer heat? They were greeted by a
few light zephyrs on the lake, taking turns to come in randomly from
every direction, conditions which were to prevail for the rest of the
day's racing.
In the Pursuit Race, the early-starting clinker boats of Brian Herring
and Roz Stevenson and Howard Chadwick and Helen Nicholson, sailing
unimpeded by the fleet, held the lead for much longer than they had
expected. Eventually the Feeling Foolishes of Christian and Sophie and
Daniel Sallis and Robin Jones and the Paradigm of Dave Peacock and
Tricia Woods made a break from the close-packed fleet, but they were not
to have it all their own way as a puff of wind on the run bunched the
fleet up even more and threatened to turn things inside out. Yet again.
However, these three boats prevailed and the fleet collectively sighed
with relief when the race officer signaled the full 70 minutes had been
completed, with Christian and Sophie taking the race from Dave and Trish
and Daniel and Robin in third.
A break for elevenses turned into a postponement and an early lunch to
await the wind, with long periods of dead calm covering one or other
half of the lake. When even the model yacht racers called it a day it
looked as though that would be it for racing, but something vaguely
resembling a light and shifty breeze appeared just as the time limit was
about to expire. By the time the start sequence was under way, the wind
had swung by 90 degrees so the first leg turned into a fetchy reach and
the competitors were able to briefly stretch their legs and sit on the
side decks. Jon and Char led until the wind reverted to its tricks of
the morning and they found a windless hole. Christian and Sophie
took the lead which they held to the finish.
For the final race, the wind occasionally hinted at the perfect
conditions which would settle in later, once the fleet was off the water
and packing up for home, but as the race got under way it still
maintained much of the morning's instability. With early leaders Stevie
and Joanne choosing to sacrifice their race in the interests of testing
the weed-harvesting capabilities of their new winged rudder, Jon and
Char this time managed to dodge the wind holes to win, with Christian
and Sophie second and John Cheetham and Anna Jones third.
Results
Overall
1. N3528
Jon Ibbotson and Charlotte Stewart
2. N3513
Christian Day and Sophie Richards
3. N3531
Steve and Joanne Sallis
4. N3529
Andy McKee and Clare Hunter
5. N3492
Paul and Caroline Watson
Gill Series
Overall
N3513
Christian Day and Sophie Richards
Admirals Cup N3411
Nick and Anthony Copsey
Family Prize N3280
Gerald and Tanya Copsey
Juniors
N3436
Daniel Sallis and Robin Jones
