AM: Commodore's Cup 2

A strengthening and chilly south-easterly wind greeted disbelieving sailors who 
arrived at the lake with comments such as 'It's completely calm in Bude', and 
intending helms quickly banished any thoughts of a shorts and suntan morning and 
scurried to put on thermals and their dry or wet suits.  With course setting constrained 
by the presence of a fishing competition, the Race Officer decided to get the fleet 
away from the less-used second start line but Bob Sampson and Simon Veal weren't 
phased by the change and both got going quickly in their Lasers.  Once around the 
windward mark at Dam Red, the fleet were faced first by a broad reach and then a 
stomach-tensing run downwind, where the veering wind left some helms sailing by 
the lee and teetering on the edge of an involuntary gybe.  Having negotiated these 
hazards and safely negotiated the turn at West White, Simon Veal then threw in an 
extra couple of gybes for luck and parted company from his boat with the sort of back 
flip that Rumanian gymnasts spend years perfecting - and was then faced with a 
lengthy swim to catch up with the rapidly drifting upturned hull.  This hiatus left Bob 
Sampson well clear at the front of the fleet, but Nicky Buckett was also going well in 
the smaller-sailed Laser 4.7 in second place and clearly was going to be a threat.  The 
heavy weather looked like creating just the right conditions to suit Toby Tobias's 
Bosun, which had sallied forth with a third crew member; for a while this looked to be 
a good choice, as the heavy boat made short work of punching through the chop, but 
after the first lap, the wind started to drop away and Toby was left burdened by 
additional unwanted ballast.

Further back in the fleet, a trio of Toppers were encountering contrasting fortunes; 
John Duncalf was finding conditions to his liking, urging his craft onto the plane in 
the stronger gusts, whilst Stephanie Heasman found the testing squalls unforgiving of 
any early-season rustiness and retired after a capsize.  With the winds providing good 
speed for most around a course slightly shorter than the average, the frontrunners had 
quickly made short work of the three laps and were soon approaching the finish line, 
with Bob was first to take the chequered flag in just under thirty-four minutes.  
However, Nicky's Laser 4.7 was next to cross the finish only a couple of minutes later 
and this was close enough to give her a comfortable win on handicap, with John 
Duncalf also coming through into second and pushing Bob back into third.

Results: 

1st Nicky Buckett (Laser 4.7)
2nd John Duncalf (Topper)
3rd Bob Sampson (Laser)
4th Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
5th Mike Ford (Solo)
6th Toby Tobias, Christine Marshall and John Buckett (Bosun)
7th Simon Veal (Laser)
8th Adeney and Alistair Pooler (Graduate)
Stephanie Heasman (Topper) rtd

PM: Cup Race 1

The weather gods had once more failed to read the Met Office script, so that after 
lunch, instead of continuing to freshen as forecast the wind began to moderate and 
lose its bite.  Sailing the same course as the morning race, Bob Sampson once again 
made an excellent start and this time consolidated his advantage, gradually pulling out 
a massive lead that never looked like being threatened.  Behind him, Paul Anderson 
also had his Laser going well, looking comfortable and assured in conditions that 
might normally have been too gentle for his preference.  The fading wind strengths 
provided a good illustration of how the different dinghy classes reacted to the gentler 
breezes: the fully-battened sails of the Solos seemed to be able to keep their craft 
moving better than some of the other classes and both Paul Whybrow and Mike Ford 
were going well, with John Savage making progress after a slow start.  Similarly, it 
was noticeable that Roger Heasman seemed able to get his Streaker onto the plane at 
relatively low wind speeds.

Whilst positions at the front of the fleet were unaffected, the beat back from Middle to 
the Dam Red buoy provided some major snakes and ladders further back.  At different 
times during the race, the preferred option could either be to hold on to a port tack 
right  down to in front of the watersports centre, where a windshift might give you a 
lift to the buoy, or else to tack early and come down the centre of the lake - and woe 
betide the helm who got it wrong.  After dropping back in the early stages of the race, 
Vicki Duncalf got it just right at the start of the third lap and made huge gains on 
surrounding boats whilst Toby Tobias also made similar substantial progress in the 
Bosun.  As the race drew to a close, it was the three full-rig Lasers that were first 
across the line and Bob Sampson was confirmed the victor on corrected time by over 
a minute.  However, Paul Whybrow came in second on handicap, followed by a group 
of boats whose handicap times were only seconds apart, with Vicki Duncalf taking 
third place by just a whisker ahead of Paul Anderson.

Results:

1st Bob Sampson (Laser)
2nd Paul Whybrow (Solo)
3rd Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
4th Paul Anderson (Laser)
5th Mike Ford (Solo)
6th Roger Heasman (Streaker)
7th Toby Tobias and Christine Marshall (Bosun)
8th John Buckett (Otter), 
9th Simon Veal (Laser)
10th John Duncalf (Topper)
11th Nicky Buckett (Laser Radial)
12th John Savage (Solo)13th Jorg Gawrisch (Skipper 14)