AM: Equinoctial Trophy 6

With some regular sailors away on a course and others no doubt still struggling 
to come to terms with the clocks going forward, it was a select fleet of only 
six boats that took to the water for the midday race.  Despite earlier 
predictions of strong winds, there was only a gentle westerly breeze as the 
fleet reached away from the start line; John Buckett set off tidily and held a 
narrow lead around the first mark, closely followed by Adeney Pooler in the 
Graduate.  Adeney's strategy of bearing away and sailing faster then paid off, 
as he quickly tacked  onto starboard and managed to force the Otter away from 
West mark; the Graduate then steadily pulled away to construct a substantial 
lead from the remainder of the fleet.  The Solos of Mike Ford and John Savage 
too soon caught up with the Otter and this trio kept company for over a lap 
until Mike Ford pulled away clear upwind and set off in pursuit of Adeney.  
Finding the light winds a handicap in their Toppers, neither John nor Vicki 
Duncalf were having the most satisfying of  races and they gradually lost 
contact with the rest of the fleet.

Towards the end of the second lap, it looked as though the race might turn into 
something of a procession with the boat order remaining unchanged, a bit like a 
Formula 1 Grand Prix after all the pit stops have finished, but then the weather 
gods took a hand and the wind died away to almost a whisper, with massive areas 
of the lake where nothing moved at all.  Sadly, Adeney fell into one of these 
Doldrums and sat almost motionless, whilst Mike Ford drifted ever closer.  
Meanwhile, John Savage and John Buckett, who had fallen some way back at the top 
end of the lake, then became jackpot winners of the weather lottery, as a steady 
breeze picked up just behind them and carried  them steadily towards Adeney and 
Mike, who were still  barely moving a hundred yards in front.  Mike Ford 
eventually recovered  and was first to cross the finish line, about fifteen 
seconds ahead of Adeney, but they no longer had a sufficient time buffer between 
themselves and the Otter, leaving John Buckett to win on handicap, ahead of 
Adeney in second.  The Toppers bravely persisted to complete the race in 
unfavourable conditions and in a brief moment of breeze, had a close-fought duel 
as they approached the line, in which Vicki just held John at bay.

Results: 

1st John Buckett (Otter)
2nd Adeney Pooler (Graduate)
3rd Mike Ford (Solo) 
4th John Savage (Solo)
5th Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
6th John Duncalf (Topper)

PM: Equinoctial Trophy 7

After lunch, the wind flickered into sufficient life to give hope for a more 
exciting afternoon race, but as soon as the dinghies were out on the water, it 
totally switched in direction to play havoc with the Race Officer's carefully 
constructed course and leave the fleet with the wind behind almost right behind 
them at the start.  All the helms made sure they weren't inadvertently blown 
over the line too soon, but as the horn blew, it was Paul Whybrow who identified 
that there was more wind right over by the Devon bank.  With the rest of the 
fleet clustered in the middle of the lake, Paul took full advantage of the clear 
air and quickly pulled out a very substantial lead.  Roger Heasman started well, 
but a leaky self-bailer meant that he began taking on substantial amounts of 
water, which slowed him down in the light winds.  For a time, the wind dropped 
away again, convincing Vicki Duncalf to decide that enough was enough and head 
for the shore and for the Race Officer to shorten the course to two laps.  Paul 
Whybrow completed an untroubled race to be first over the line by the massive 
margin of nearly four minutes and be an equally clear-cut winner on handicap.  
The Streaker, Graduate and Solo finished in fairly close order, but although 
last by some margin on the water, John Buckett had done just sufficient to take 
second on handicap.

Results: 

1st Paul Whybrow (Solo)
2nd John Buckett (Otter)
3rd Adeney Pooler (Graduate)
4th Roger Heasman (Streaker)
5th Mike Ford (Solo)
Vicki Duncalf (Topper) rtd