AM: Sailboat Trophy 4

A blanket of drizzly rain had damped down the anticipated strong southerly winds in 
front of the Watersports Centre but pre-race reconnaissance had shown that Upper 
Tamar was a 'lake of two halves', to borrow a footballing metaphor, with quite a good 
breeze up at the distant top end of the reservoir.  Accordingly the race officer had set a 
course with a short beat to the green Dam buoy, followed by a long dogleg off into the 
middle distance with a rounding at Far buoy, to give the Tamar sailors a chance of 
finding some decent wind.  The configuration of the course led to the fleet all 
attempting to cross at the same point of the start line and a good proportion of the 13 
boats then all trying to squeeze round the Dam buoy at the same time, giving lots of 
tense close-quarter sailing.  Having done really well to arrive early at the Dam mark, 
Bob Sampson's RS200 then unluckily faltered and became stuck on the buoy, like a 
broken-down car in the middle of a busy roundabout, so that all the following boats 
had to twist and turn to try to avoid this extra obstacle.  However,  Neil Wallace in the 
Wayfarer had managed to get round just in front of Bob and, with guest crew Izzy 
Higgs, headed away from all the carnage behind; quickly picking up speed on the 
dogleg from Middle to West, they were soon rewarded with a sizeable lead.

As the race unfolded, the bigger boats quite quickly pulled clear of the slower section 
of the fleet.  Roger Ford and Val Shillito soon made second place their own in their 
Wayfarer, whilst a tightly-bunched pack of Lasers, including Jane Chadney, Katie 
Leveridge and Simon Veal, were keenly contesting places in the middle of the fleet.  
Going best of the Lasers, however, was David Higgs, taking good advantage from the 
tight reaches on the second part of the course.  However, on the second lap, he was 
overtaken by the RS200, with Bob recovering from his early difficulties to make up 
some lost ground, despite having to contend with a course that didn't really favour an 
asymmetric-rigged boat.  The second half of the fleet struggled with the fluky winds 
in the lee of the Dam and the Toppers of Vicki and John Duncalf were left searching 
for boatspeed.

In the vanguard of the race, Neil's Wayfarer stayed untouchable, despite sometimes 
sailing well heeled in the gusts because of his ultra-light crew and he crossed the 
finish line well clear of the competition to become a comfortable winner both on the 
water and on handicap.  The RS 200 edged eight seconds ahead of Roger Ford's 
Wayfarer to take second place on the water, but fared less well on handicap.  As the 
bigger boats finished, the wind rapidly increased in strength, leaving John Buckett's 
Otter fortunately placed to take advantage at the head of the bunch of slower boats 
still out on the course, accelerating to the finish line to take an unexpected second 
place on handicap, nudging Roger Ford back into third place by the wafer-thin margin 
of six seconds, with Katie Leveridge as the first of the Laser pack in fourth spot..

Results: 

1st Neil Wallace and Izzy Higgs (Wayfarer)
2nd John Buckett (Otter)
3rd Roger Ford and Val Shillito (Wayfarer)
4th Katie Leveridge (Laser Radial)
5th Jane Chadney (Laser Radial)
6th John Duncalf (Topper)
7th David Higgs (Laser)
8th Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
9th Simon Veal (Laser)
10th Bob Sampson and Nicky Buckett (RS200)
11th John Leveridge, Nathan Banham-Leveridge and Mike Ford (Wayfarer)
12th Jorg Gawrisch (Otter) 
Emily Veal (Laser 4.7) rtd

PM: Ladies Cup/Junior Helm/Gosling Shield 6

Over lunch, more rain and drizzle had swept in to add one more weekend's nail in the 
coffin of the Met Office's 'barbecue summer' prediction, but this time accompanied 
by a strengthening and increasingly gusty wind to make conditions more testing for an 
enlarged fleet of 15 boats.  Despite the addition of the Dam Red buoy to the course to 
ease congestion at the first mark, it was still a tightly-packed fleet that jockeyed for 
position: Paul Whybrow's Solo was first away, with Bob Sampson's RS200 weaving 
round the slower boats to follow close behind, just ahead of David Higgs.  Perhaps 
encouraged by the revving of thoroughbred engines from the nearby Transport 
Museum's vehicle show, Paul Whybrow showed just how much speed a thoroughbred 
class of sailing dinghy could achieve in his Solo.  The Toppers were also finding  the 
brisker conditions more to their liking, with Stephen Muller leading the trio of boats 
through the early stages.  Bob Sampson tried alternative tactics for the afternoon race, 
choosing routes that enabled him to maximise his use of the gennaker and go for boat 
speed, rather than following the shortest distance round the course.  This resulted in 
the RS200 approaching the marks at odd angles and led to Vicki Duncalf nudging the 
RS's transom as she attempted a tight rounding at Far and having to carry out the 
usual penalty turns.  In contrast, Roger Ford's Wayfarer was demonstrating its 
legendary ability to point close to the wind on the long beat back from Far and had 
taken the lead by the end of the first lap.

Racing was once again very close between the Laser fleet; Simon Veal had battled his 
way to the front of this group during the second lap, but Stephanie Clark was close 
behind in her Laser Radial, revelling in the tactical opportunities offered on the long 
beats.  David Higgs overtook Stephanie briefly at the start of the third lap, only for her 
to re-take the place with a speedy reach.  Despite one or two alarming heels in the 
gusts, Emily Veal was going exceptionally well in the smaller-sailed Laser 4.7.  As 
the wind continued to build, the Toppers too came into their own, with John Duncalf 
easing quickly past John Buckett's Otter, despite shipping water in an over-
enthusiastic roll-tack.  Further back on the course, new member Jorg Gawrisch was 
doing well to keep his Otter on track in the blustery weather after only a couple of 
previous outings in the boat.  At the front of the fleet, Roger Ford maintained his lead 
to the finish, crossing the line a minute ahead of the Solo, but on handicap Paul 
Whybrow took the honours by a comfortable margin.  John Duncalf's speed in the 
latter stages paid off with second place on handicap, with the Wayfarer again taking 
the third podium place and a richly deserved fourth spot for Emily Veal.

Gosling Shield: 

1st Paul Whybrow (Solo)
2nd John Duncalf (Topper)
3rd Roger Ford and Val Shilito (Wayfarer)
4th Emily Veal (Laser 4.7)
5th John Buckett (Otter)
6th Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
7th Stephanie Clark (Laser Radial)
8th Simon Veal (Laser)
9th Jane Chadney (Laser Radial)
10th David Higgs (Laser)
11th Bob Sampson and Nicky Buckett (RS200)
12th Katie Leveridge (Laser Radial)
13th Stephen Muller (Topper)
14th John Leveridge, Nathan Banham-Leveridge and Mike Ford (Wayfarer)
15th Jorg Gawrisch (Otter)

Ladies Cup: 

1st Emily Veal (Laser 4.7)
2nd Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
3rd Stephanie Clark (Laser Radial)
4th Jane Chadney (Laser Radial)
5th Katie Leveridge (Laser Radial)

Junior Helm: 

1st Emily Veal (Laser 4.7)
2nd Katie Leveridge (Laser Radial) 
3rd Stephen Muller (Topper)