Adrian Cripps as OOD had everything in hand for a prompt start with a lovely light SW wind that kicked in at just the right time. A simple and appropriately short course was set and stood for the whole session with an initial race of 1 lap (with 2 windward beats) before moving to 2 laps (3 beats) as the wind steadied. The day was very cool …. but the racing was red hot over all 12 races!

The majority of wins were shared between Jen and Martyn with 5 each. Dave and Sam scored a bullet each. Dave caused much amusement by his attempt to set a record for how many times a skipper could be over the line at the start. He was cheered on as he managed 5 or 6 and had no competition on that aspect of the day. He did recover his race position admirably each time though and tied with Jen for second place with 23 points, only losing out on countback. Martyn took the day with 18 points.

The results don’t really tell the story of how tight the racing was, with most skippers enjoying good positions at some point during the races, and those positions changing frequently as skippers picked up wind shifts and sailed tactically. The finishing was frequently a rapid succession of boats, so close was the racing. All this was conducted with some good-natured banter and with very few incidents requiring penalty turns making this a very enjoyable day.

Many thanks to Adrian for the setup and guiding the day’s racing …. plus doing more than his fair share of the starts! Ed had a few rig and battery issues and took over start line duties for the final few races; thank you Ed! Thank you also to those that participated in the final efficient tidy away.

Martyn Aspinall

26 November 2023