Ice Cream before sailing

Champagne sailing conditions greeted the 6 visitors who travelled from Netley, Cransley, Emsworth and as far away as Hitchin. They joined the two local sailors from Bristol Corinthian & Clevedon.

OOD Ian Hotchkiss set an Olympic style triangle sausage course in the bay, with a beat along the shore to Wains Hill against a South Westerly force 3-4 breeze.
Race one saw current National Champion Ian Morgan and local sailor Robin Goff get off the line well, short tacking inshore to stay out of the tide. Goff’s good start was short lived however as by the windward mark he’d dropped to 5th and it was Morgan, David Valentine, Tom Southwell and Steve Bolland who lead the way to the gybe mark, with Gordon Stewart and Nigel Austin bringing up the rear. Lap two saw Valentine drop to 4th but he was passed on the last run by Goff. Up front it was Morgan who took the gun with Southwell 2nd and Bolland 3rd.

By the start of race two the wind strength had increased to 4 gusting 5 and again Morgan showed the rest of the fleet a clean pair of heels up the first beat, opening up a sizeable lead by the windward mark, with Bolland & Southwell in 2nd & 3rd. These positions remained unchanged for the rest of the race, followed by Goff, Valantine, Stewart & Austin.

Goff decided he’d had enough excitement for one day and decided to sit out race 3, but was soon joined by Morgan who retired just after the start with a broken Cunningham line. This left Southwell and Bolland to fight it out for the win, with Southwell doing just enough in what was a very close race to claim line honours. Austin sailed well in the testing conditions to come in 3rd with Valentine close behind and Stewart 5th following a capsize.


Photo Copyright Ella Gibson

Final positions for the overall series were:
1st Ian Morgan Hillhead SC. 2nd Tom Southwell Hillhead SC. 3rd Steve Bolland Bristol Corinthian YC. 4th Robin Goff Clevedon SC. 5th David Valentine Emsworth Slipper SC. 6th Nigel Austin Cransley SC. 7th Gordon Stewart North Herts & East Beds SC.