Gill Series & Summer Event

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