AM: Barnwell Cup 2

As the morning's wind fell away to almost a flat calm, the 15 skippers that took their 
boats out onto the water looked to be outrageously over-optimistic, but as the seconds 
ticked down for a slightly-delayed start, a breeze suddenly sprang up out of nowhere 
to reward their faith.  Slightly daunting was the fact that it was blowing down the lake 
from the north-west, pushing the fleet towards the start line with no way of slowing 
down, but despite  this all boats got away cleanly, with Katie Leveridge and John 
Chandler getting their noses across first.  Nevertheless, in the few yards before 
rounding the mark at Dam buoy, Jane Anderson had worked her customary magic, 
squeezing through to the front and performing an immaculate pirouette and turn in 
front of her rivals to take the lead, with John Chandler round in second.  There was 
lots of tactical interest as helms chose widely differing routes in the slow beat up to 
the windward mark at Pinky, but by the 90 degree turn at Home Two on the way 
back, Jane had already pulled out a gap of 80 yards over the second boat, with Steve 
Axford pulling through out of the pack to take up the chase.  

The race was notable for several novel pairings of boats and personnel appearing on 
the water; in the absence of Neil Wallace, the Wayfarer's usual crew of Nicky 
Buckett took over at the tiller, with John Leveridge revisiting his sailing beginnings 
by stepping in as crew.  David Harker had forsaken the modern delights of his RS 
Feva and fallen under the siren spell of an elegant vintage Finn, a dinghy class 
notorious for its low boom and preference for strong winds, but even on his first 
outing David soon had the long hull slipping easily through the water.   Not so 
fortunate was John Savage, where ongoing rigging problems for his initial venture out 
in his Solo meant that he was faced with an even lower boom, which indiscriminately 
thumped both helm and the tiller every time the boat tacked, forcing an early 
retirement.   By the end of the second lap, Jane Anderson was still showing the way, 
but Steve Axford was sticking to his task and had closed the gap to under 50 yards.  
Mike Ford was also going well, gradually overhauling and passing the Bosun after 
John's initial good start, with Simon Veal recovering two places as the race moved 
into its final stages.  Jane Anderson was still untouchable, however, and was first 
across the line, 90 seconds ahead of Steve Axford and these two retained their one-
two placings on handicap.  For yet another race, the wind slackened as the faster boats 
finished, leaving the slower boat classes struggling and it was the Wayfarer that 
interrupted Laser dominance to take third on handicap, a few seconds ahead of Simon 
Veal.

Results: 

1st Jane Anderson (Laser)
2nd Steve Axford (Laser)
3rd Nicky Buckett and John Leveridge (Wayfarer)
4th Simon Veal (Laser)
5th Katie Leveridge (Laser)
6th David Harker (Finn)
7th John Chandler (Bosun)
8th Mike Ford (Wanderer)
9th Derek Farnfield (Wanderer)
10th Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
11th John Duncalf (Topper)
12th Adam Pollard (Pico)
13th Emily Veal (Topper)
John Savage (Solo), Nathan Banham-Leveridge (Pico) rtd

PM: Ladies Cup/Junior Helm/Gosling Shield 3

With a new course giving a start into the wind, the fleet got away well and on her 
return from big boat sailing, Mary Carter was first across the line.  On the approach to 
the Inlet mark, the breeze weakened under the trees and it was the slim-hulled 
Scorpion of Paul Whybrow and Steve Axford that kept its momentum best, but as 
they approached Middle buoy they relinquished the overall lead to Jane Anderson.  Of 
the five boats competing for the Junior Cup, it was Katie Leveridge that led the way, 
followed by Emily Veal.  On the second lap, the Scorpion overtook Jane Anderson's 
Laser but in the slowly dying winds was unable to pull clear and Jane stayed tucked in 
close behind.  With the wind continuing to drop, the boats started to string out all 
round the course , as some patches of water went completely flat and left skippers 
drifting helplessly.  Mary Carter was first to retire and in conditions set to try the 
patience of a saint, several other boats were forced to follow suit.  Nevertheless, the 
two leading boats continued their slow-motion duel, with the Scorpion crossing the 
line three boat lengths ahead of Jane Anderson's Laser, but it was not a big enough 
margin and Jane was a comfortable winner on handicap, as well as taking first place 
in the Ladies Cup.  A second group of boats was about half a lap behind, with David 
Harker's Finn moving up into third place on the water, ahead of the Wayfarer and 
Simon Veal's Laser.  Despite doing a penalty after hitting a buoy, it was the Wayfarer 
that claimed third place.  Katie Leveridge stayed well clear to win the Junior Helm, 
with  Emily second, but all five Junior competitors showed great persistence and 
determination to stay the course and finish the race.

Results -  Ladies Cup:  

1st Jane Anderson (Laser)
2nd Nicky Buckett and John Leveridge (Wayfarer)
3rd Katie Leveridge (Laser)
4th Emily Veal (Topper)

Junior Helm: 

1st Katie Leveridge (Laser)
2nd Emily Veal (Topper)
3rd Adam Pollard (Pico)
4th Fraser Martyn (Pico)
5th Nathan Banham-Leveridge (Pico)

Gosling Shield : 

1st Jane Anderson (Laser)
2nd Paul Whybrow and Steve Axford (Scorpion)
3rd Nicky Buckett and John Leveridge (Wayfarer)
4th David Harker (Finn)
5th Simon Veal (Laser)
6th Katie Leveridge (Laser) 
7th Emily Veal (Topper) 
8th Adam Pollard (Pico)
9th Fraser Martyn (Pico)
10th Nathan Banham-Leveridge (Pico)
Mary Carter (Laser), Derek Farnfield (Wanderer), John Buckett (Otter), John 
Chandler (Bosun), Mike Ford (Wanderer) rtd