AM: Commodore’s Cup 1

After the doldrums of the previous weekend, sailors arriving at the lake were 
greeted by a brisk north-westerly wind sending lines of white caps down the lake 
and steep little waves thudding menacingly into the pontoon.  Faced with a 
combination of this and single figure temperatures, quite a few intending 
sailors retreated to the clubhouse, so it was a small fleet of 8 boats that got 
away for the midday race.  Bob Sampson and Liz Royall in the RS got away well in 
the RS200, with both Katie Leveridge and Emily Veal also steaming away from 
their fellow competitors on the long haul up the lake to Pinkie.  At the other 
end of the scale, things were going pear-shaped for John Duncalf, when a 
momentary loss of control whilst on port tack sent him crashing into the side of 
the Otter, leaving him faced with doing penalty turns into the teeth of the 
wind, which left him some way adrift of the fleet.

Flying the gennaker on the off-wind legs, Bob and Liz were clearly enjoying 
their first outing of the season in the RS200.  Just behind them in the full-rig 
Laser, Simon Veal edged his vessel onto the bow wave of the RS200 and took off 
at eye-watering (and probably stomach-churning) speeds.  After a start where he 
almost mistakenly set off on the wrong side of the lake, Mike Ford quickly made 
amends and began to show good form in his Solo.  Although back in 6th place on 
the water, Vicki Duncalf was quietly making excellent progress and was clearly 
going to be a force to be reckoned with on handicap.  The positions changed 
relatively little as each lap was completed, though John Duncalf had made short 
work of hauling in the Otter and by the second lap was had overtaken and pulled 
put himself back into contention for a good placing.  The wind direction 
gradually backed round towards the West, however, which meant that when faced 
with a gybe at the end of the broad reach to Inlet buoy, instead of being 
sheltered by the lee of the hill, boats were exposed to the full force of the 
wind as they manoeuvred round, giving several helms an anxious moment or two. 
First to complete the taxing four-lap race was the RS200, with Simon Veal only 
two seconds behind.  However, on handicap it was a triumphant Topper day, with 
Vicki and John making it a one-two, ahead of Katie Leveridge in the Laser 4.7 in 
well-deserved third place.

Results: 

1st Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
2nd John Duncalf (Topper)
3rd Katie Leveridge (Laser 4.7)
4th Simon Veal (Laser)
5th Bob Sampson and Liz Royall (RS200)
6th Mike Ford (Solo)
7th John Buckett (Otter)
Emily Veal (Laser 4.7) rtd

PM: Tamar Cup 1

After the rigours of the morning’s excursion, several helms were missing from 
the cast list for the afternoon race, but with new blood willing to step up and 
give it a go, it was still a fleet of 8 boats that gathered on the start line.  
First away was Simon Veal, but by the time the fleet had reached the West mark, 
Liz Royall had overtaken Simon into first spot.  The RS200 wasn’t in front for 
long, however, and Nicky Buckett was in the lead as the frontrunners approached 
the Dam buoy for the first time.  The RS200 then had a mishap rounding the mark 
and capsized, dropping them out of the leading bunch.  During the second lap, 
Nicky Buckett started to tire, first getting into irons and then hitting West 
mark so that the order changed once again; Simon Veal regained the lead but then 
suffered a dry capsize and at the end of the second lap Jane Chadney in the 
Laser 4.7 was in front, ahead of several nominally-faster boats.  

As the race unfolded, Jane continued to master the difficult conditions in an 
impressive display of controlled sailing, whilst Vicki Duncalf was again also 
quietly going well further back in the fleet.  Simon Veal did fight back to 
overtake Jane and cross the line in first place, but he was only 13 seconds 
ahead of the smaller-rigged boat. On handicap, Jane Chadney was declared winner, 
her very first-ever victory at Upper Tamar and a richly-deserved one.  Vicki 
Duncalf completed a good day to take second place, whilst Paul Whybrow flew the 
flag for the Solo fleet by taking third place on handicap.

Results: 

1st Jane Chadney (Laser 4.7)
2nd Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
3rd Paul Whybrow (Solo)
4th Simon Veal (Laser)
5th Nicky Buckett (Laser Radial)
6th John Duncalf (Topper)
7th Liz Royall and Bob Sampson (RS200)
John Buckett (Otter) rtd