AM: Sailboat Trophy 1

Low cloud shrouding the lake had rolled away in time for the midday start of the first 
race of the Sailboat series and with quite a brisk westerly breeze, a fleet of nine boats  
were moving well as the seconds ticked down to the start.  Jane Anderson was first 
away, with Vicki Duncalf just behind and at the last moment Simon Veal grabbing a 
prime slot just inside the buoy.  Other helms were not so lucky and Mike Ford was 
forced to make a very early retirement when his tiller extension came adrift.  After 
nudging to windward to pass the Middle mark to starboard, the fleet could bear away 
for the long haul up to Far.  It quickly became apparent that it might indeed be the 
sailing equivalent of an uphill struggle, as the wind seemed to die away as the fleet 
progressed further up the lake.  On the long run back from Far, progress became even 
more spasmodic; for helms near the front of the fleet looking behind them, it became 
akin to a waterborne version of grandmother's footsteps: at one point, the pursuing 
boats would seem almost at a standstill, but one boat or another would then silently 
catch a gust of wind and a few seconds later would almost magically appear to have 
closed right up.  On his return from a holiday in a Slovakian heatwave, Simon was 
showing that he could be hot stuff back in England too, keeping Jane in his sights for 
most of the first lap.  Even at the bottom of the lake, the wind was by now beginning 
to falter and as Jane rounded Dam Green, the Race Officer decided to shorten the race 
to two laps, in case it died further.

Despite the diminishing breeze, Jane started to extend her lead on the second lap, 
pulling away both from Simon and from John Savage's Solo, which had moved into 
third slot.  Further back, the two Toppers of Stephanie Heasman and John Duncalf 
were locked together and swapping places, with Stephanie having the edge as they 
completed the first lap.  For Christine Marshall, her first lap turned out to be her only 
one, as she got too close to the leeward shore as she headed up the lake for the second 
time and ran aground in the shallows, so that she decided to retire.  At the front, Jane 
had by now pulled out an unassailable lead and she finished the race in thirty-six 
minutes, two minutes ahead of Simon's Laser, which was the next boat home.  Jane 
was a clear winner on handicap by a country mile, but in second place on handicap 
was John Buckett's Otter, with Simon in third.  John Duncalf had edged ahead of 
Stephanie on the second lap and took fourth place, whilst Stephanie and John Savage 
dead-heated for fifth.

Results: 

1st Jane Anderson (Laser Radial)
2nd John Buckett (Otter)
3rd Simon Veal (Laser)
4th John Duncalf (Topper)
5th= John Savage (Solo) and Stephanie Heasman (Topper)
7th Vicki Duncalf (Laser 4.7)
Mike Ford (Solo), Christine Marshall (Otter) rtd

PM: Tamar Memorial Trophy 5

With a couple of additional entrants for the afternoon race, an augmented fleet went 
out to face a revised course which started with a longish beat across to West.  Most 
helms decided to go for a safer starboard tack start to get them across the line, whilst 
Bob Sampson attempted a port tack flier but mis-timed his approach and arrived too 
early.  Accordingly, it was Paul Whybrow who leapt into an early lead, with Jane 
Anderson close behind.  After rounding the mark, the leaders set off across the lake 
with a dogleg round Home 2 on the way to Inlet, ahead of which Bob had taken the 
lead with Jane Anderson in second.  With a further zig-zag to Middle, designed to 
give the boats more time in the windier part of the lake, the fleet then headed up to 
Pinky, by which time Mike Ford's Solo was beginning to move through from the back 
of the fleet.  At the end of the first lap, Bob had pulled out a one and a half minute 
advantage over Jane is second, but clearly still had more work to do if he wanted to 
have a chance on handicap.  

Fortunately, the wind showed no sign of dying away this time as the race progressed. 
If the wind wasn't a problem, though, judging how close you could safely get to the 
shore could be and Vicki Duncalf ran aground in West bay, but was soon off and back 
in the action.  At the back of the fleet, Roger Heasman was out in the Laser 16 with 
crew Fraser Martin and as a leviathan amongst minnows, stayed back at the start to 
keep well out of the way of the smaller boats, before gradually starting to take closer 
order and close up on Adeney Pooler's Graduate and John Duncalf's Topper.  At the 
front, Bob Sampson hadn't increased his lead by the end of the second lap and with 
Paul Whybrow going well in the Solo, now had two boats to worry about for the 
handicap placings.  On the third lap, however, Bob had pulled away a bit more from 
his rivals and crossed the line two and a quarter minutes clear of Jane to comfortably 
take first place, with Paul Whybrow thirty seconds behind on corrected time to take 
second ahead of Jane.  Mike Ford continued to go well in the closing stages and 
pulled through to take fourth in his Solo.

Results: 

1st Bob Sampson (Laser)
2nd Paul Whybrow (Solo)
3rd Jane Anderson (Laser Radial)
4th Mike Ford (Solo)
5th John Buckett (Otter)
6th Simon Veal (Laser)
7th John Duncalf (Topper)
8th Vicki Duncalf (Laser 4.7)
9th John Savage (Solo)
10th Adeney Pooler (Graduate)
11th Roger Heasman and Fraser Martin (Laser 16)