Chocoholics Regatta 2

AM: Although the Tamar Lake Chocoholics Regattas are always popular, the forecast 
strong winds looked like making the sailors work hard for their prizes.  However, 
despite intending sailors seeing strong blustery gusts shaking the hedgerows on their 
journey to the lake, Upper Tamar itself seemed to be in something of a protected 
bubble, wrapped in an eerie calm with only relatively gentle breezes rippling the 
surface.  Accordingly 11 boats ventured out, with Topper dinghies making up over 
half the fleet and it was one of these that was first away, as Vicki Duncalf got a flying 
start, getting within a whisker of being recalled.  Within a few yards, however, Bob 
Sampson had shot into the lead in his Laser, with Emily Veal's Laser Radial not far 
behind and Stephanie Heasman showing great form to be first of the Topper pack.  
After a beat from the Zebra buoy to the West mark, the fleet formed a line astern on 
the long reach up to Pinkie.  On the broad reach back down the lake, the two full-rig 
Lasers had taken their expected places at the front, with Simon Veal moving into 
second place 50 yards behind Bob and Mike Ford coaxing his Solo into third place.

By the second lap, sudden gusts were starting to disturb the water, alternating with 
dead spots where boats slowed almost to a standstill.  As the lap ended at the halfway 
point of the race, Bob Sampson looked initially to have a growing advantage, but a 
check on the times revealed that he was only three minutes ahead of the first Topper, 
a lead that was unlikely to be sufficient to guarantee a win on handicap.  The wind 
continued to grow still more unpredictable on the third lap and David Harris ran into 
serious difficulties on the dogleg from Home 2 into Inlet, sufficient to decide to take 
an early retirement.  Some helms found the rougher conditions more to their liking, 
however, with Jane Anderson overtaking Vicki Duncalf to become lead Topper, 
whilst Mike Ford and Emily Veal were battling at close quarters for fourth place.  By 
the final lap, conditions had become yet more erratic, and a sudden vicious gust 
capsized Bob Sampson's Laser, even though he was on a beam reach, normally the 
most stable point of sail; unfazed, Bob recovered in a few moments and was on his 
way again, to be first across the line by three minutes ahead of Simon.  However, on 
handicap, it turned out to be almost a Topper whitewash, with this dinghy occupying 
all of the first five places, led by Jane Anderson in first and followed by Vicki 
Duncalf and Jane Chadney.

Results: 

1st Jane Anderson (Topper)
2nd Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
3rd Jane Chadney (Topper)
4th Nicky Buckett (Topper)
5th John Duncalf (Topper)
6th Bob Sampson (Laser)
7th Stephanie Heasman (Topper)
8th Mike Ford (Solo)
9th Simon Veal (Laser)
10th Emily Veal (Laser Radial)
David Harris (Otter) rtd  

PM: Afternoon Race

With some helms calling it a day after the exertions of the first race, eight boats took 
to the water for the second race of the regatta on a revised course designed to include 
all points of sail.  With the fleet all well back from the line as the horn sounded, it was 
Bob Sampson who was first away, with Jane Anderson in hot pursuit on the short leg 
to Zebra.  As the lead boats then bore away on a broad reach to Inlet, it was not long 
before helms started to encounter problems.  First to fall was Roger Heasman, who 
after a hurried start to get on the water in time, suffered a high-speed broach, with the 
Streaker throwing off the helm before inverting and drifting off downwind out of 
sight deep into the Inlet and requiring the lengthy attentions of the safety boat before 
he could be righted.  Mike Ford decided that his wooden Solo was showing signs of 
strain and decided to make a voluntary exit from the race.  Once having safely 
negotiated Inlet, the remainder of the fleet were then faced with a tactical beat across 
the windiest part of the lake to West and this too soon showed that it was not without 
problems: as the gusts veered and shifted, Bob Sampson came to a dead stop on a tack 
and was caught in irons, unable to get free until Jane Anderson was almost past him.  
Undaunted, Bob battled on and had pulled out a modest 30 second advantage over 
Jane by the end of the first lap, with Simon Veal just pushing Jane back into third as 
they both completed the first circuit.  

As the gusts became wilder and more unpredictable on the second lap, John Savage 
became the next to retire, whittling the fleet down to just five boats.  Bob showed a  
brief burst of spectacular speed, planing in a plume of white water from Zebra to 
Inlet, but it was the Toppers who continued to look most comfortable, with Jane 
Anderson gradually drawing further clear of the other two.  The weather gods then 
added a driving drizzle to the mix and with visibility starting to decline in the murk, 
there was a danger that the race would have to be halted prematurely.  However, with 
the leaders knocking out the laps in around twelve minutes, the competitors crossed 
the finish just in time, with Bob once again first on the water, some 50 seconds ahead 
of Simon and just three minutes ahead of Jane in third.  Even before the handicap 
calculations were completed, it was clear that this wasn't going to be enough and so it 
proved, with the three Toppers occupying the first three positions and Jane Anderson 
taking a comfortable first place to complete a double for the day and walk away with 
the best box of chocolates for the first prize.

Results: 

1st Jane Anderson (Topper)
2nd Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
3rd John Duncalf (Topper)
4th Bob Sampson (Laser)
5th Simon Veal (Laser)
John Savage (Solo), Mike Ford (Solo), Roger Heasman (Streaker) rtd