AM: Commodore Cup 7

With severe gales forecast for the Bristol Channel, the winds were always going to be 
sufficiently wild to deter all but the hard-core heroes amongst the Upper Tamar 
sailing club, but with sunshine to encourage the waverers, seven boats ventured out 
for the midday race.  Vicki Duncalf was perilously close to being over the line as the 
horn blew, but got away well to make the fastest start.  Sailing with a Radial rig 
'because I haven't got anything smaller', Steve Axford was quickly up to warp speed, 
however and his Laser had taken the lead as the fleet passed the Middle buoy.  John 
Duncalf was also making up places impressively at this stage and by the upwind mark 
had moved into second.  As the boats made their way back down towards the windiest 
part of the lake at West mark, ferocious and unpredictable gusts and lulls meant that 
there was more rocking and rolling amongst the fleet than at a Little Richard revival 
concert.  Particularly hard-pressed was the RS Feva, where David Harker and Katie 
Leveridge were having to frantically scramble this way and that to avoid taking an 
early bath.  Not so lucky was John Duncalf, who suffered first one and then another 
capsize, on the second occasion being pitched into the water to see his Topper floating 
away in one direction and his hat in another, with boat and helm eventually being 
safely being brought ashore by a vigilant William Pepworth in the RIB.

Steve Axford's Laser had been achieving the sort of momentum small speedboats 
would be quite pleased with, blasting down the lake on the plane almost disappearing 
in a cloud of spray and had pulled out an absolutely huge lead over the rest of the 
competitors.  In a cruel twist of fate, however, he caught one gust too many when 
nearing the end of the race and his Laser corkscrewed and pitchpoled into a 
spectacular wipe-out; Steve's lead was such that he would have had ample time to 
right the boat and sail on to victory, but in the impact of the capsize his mainsheet had 
come adrift and was just too difficult to re-thread whilst afloat, leading to a frustrating 
retirement.  Meanwhile, following a slowish start re-honing his Laser skills after a 
house-moving layoff, Bob Sampson's race was rapidly improving, overtaking first 
Nicky Buckett's Topper and then the RS Feva.  With Steve's demise, Bob was left out 
in front and crossed the line 45 seconds ahead of David Harker, to put him in first 
place on handicap, ahead of Dave and Katie in second and Vicki Duncalf in third.

Results: 1st Bob Sampson (Laser Radial), 2nd David Harker and Katie Leveridge (RS 
Feva), 3rd Vicki Duncalf (Topper), 4th Nicky Buckett (Topper), Steve Axford (Laser 
Radial), John Duncalf (Topper) rtd, Emily Veal (Topper) dns

PM: Cup Race 7

If anything the wind and gusts had intensified over lunch, so it was no surprise that 
numbers were down for the afternoon race, with only five boats braving the elements.  
Of these, a chilled and cold Nicky Buckett soon found the competing attractions of a 
hot shower irresistible, so that it was only four that headed their boats into the 
increasingly choppy waters.  Simon Veal had the added handicap of a Topper with no 
working self-bailer, so as the whitecaps splashed in over the side, he was left with a 
rapidly-filling hull and no way of emptying it; although the Topper stayed afloat, it 
refused to go through the wind when tacking and he ended up running out of lake and 
drifting ashore.  Now back in the sailing groove and in the smaller Laser 4.7 rig, Bob 
Sampson made a much better start and was soon in the lead.  In the windy conditions, 
however, the helms found themselves engaged in the sailing equivalent of snakes and 
ladders, as one after the other, different boats did well only to then capsize and lose 
the lead.  Bob was the first to encounter a snake, as he capsized going past Middle.  In 
classic Topper conditions, Vicki Duncalf was on the tail of the RS Feva and looked 
possibly the most at-ease helm on the lake.  Once righted, however, Bob was soon 
showing impressive speed, overtaking both Vicki and David Harker and beginning to 
put together a comfortable lead.  The RS Feva was giving its crew some heart-
stopping moments and Vicki looked much more at home in Topper, until she 
struggled to bear away after the West mark and lost many valuable seconds.  Bob 
avoided the last-lap catastrophe that had befallen Steve Axford and kept going to the 
winning hooter, to take first place both on the water and on handicap.  Vicki Duncalf 
had closed up to within a few seconds of the RS Feva by the end, so with her more 
favourable boat handicap, she took second place by a good margin.  Congratulations 
to all helms and crews who went out and competed in such taxing conditions.

Results: 1st Bob Sampson (Laser 4.7), 2nd Vicki Duncalf (Topper), 3rd David Harker 
and Katie Leveridge (RS Feva), Simon Veal (Topper) rtd, Nicky Buckett (Topper) 
dns