AM: Commodore's Cup 4

With hazy sunshine burning away the morning murk and only a light north-easterly 
breeze ruffling the water, the conditions might have been expected to produce some 
relaxed, gentle racing.  However, Upper Tamar sailors were clearly in a competitive 
mood and with most of the boats vying for the prime spot at the far end of the start 
line, the scene was reminiscent of a group of over-eager shoppers trying to squeeze 
through the door at the start of the Harrods Christmas sale.  In jockeying for pole 
position, Jane Anderson's Laser edged Neil Wallace's Wayfarer past the wrong side 
of the mark and both had to circle back to start again, leaving Simon Veal  to make an 
excellent get-away.  With a lightning recovery, Jane Anderson was soon heading up 
the lake towards the Inlet mark and quickly back in contention at the front of the fleet.  
Simon however was living up to the name of his boat and had a spell when he seemed 
to be on fire, hanging on to the lead before Jane and then Neil overtook him.

Further back in the fleet, new member Diana Percy was out working her way round 
the unfamiliar marks in her boat 'Petit Brise', a replica of the tender to the famous 
early ocean racing pilot cutter 'Jolie Brise', which would have been a clear winner for 
any prize for the most elegant boat on the lake.  Behind the front-runners, a group of 
five boats spent much of the first two laps swapping places, covering an eclectic range 
of boat classes, including a Wanderer, Bosun, Laser, Topper and Otter, but all 
travelling at much the same speed.  Back at the sharp end of the fleet, Jane Anderson 
had pulled 100 metres ahead of Neil Wallace and Steve Axford by the start of the 
second lap.  The breeze then started to freshen and Steve Axford's Laser and Neil 
Wallace's Wayfarer both made serious inroads into Jane's lead, before the wind 
slackened once more, leaving Jane to pull away again and cross the line 75 seconds 
ahead of Neil.  After calculating the boat handicaps, Jane was also confirmed as the 
winner on handicap, but by the much narrower margin of 12 seconds ahead of Neil's 
Wayfarer, with Steve Axford a minute further behind in third.

Results: 1st Jane Anderson (Laser), 2nd Neil Wallace and Nicky Buckett (Wayfarer), 
3rd Steve Axford (Laser), 4th John Buckett (Otter), 5th Simon Veal (Laser), 6th John 
Chandler (Bosun), 7th John Duncalf (Topper), 8th=  David Higgs (Laser) 8th= Vicki 
Duncalf (Topper), 10th Derek Farnfield and Alan Comber (Wanderer), 11th David 
Harker (RS Feva), John Savage (Cadet) , Diana Percy (Petit Brise) rtd

PM: Ladies Cup/Junior Helm/Gosling Shield 2

The arrival of some full-strength summer-like sunshine over lunchtime did little to 
reduce the competitive edge of the fleet and with the same course as before, the start 
was along much the same lines as the morning race.  In the tightly-packed mass of 
boats jostling for position,  John Buckett in his Otter was the transgressor, cannoning 
into the windward quarter of John Duncalf's Topper before slinking off in disgrace to 
expiate his guilt with the regulation 720 degree penalty.  Neil Wallace got away well 
in the Wayfarer and after rounding the first mark at Inlet was in the lead, ahead of 
Paul Whybrow and Steve Axford in the Scorpion and Jane Anderson back in third.   
However, with a run from Inlet to West and then reaches up to Pinky buoy and back 
to Dam mark, there were lots of opportunities for the Scorpion to get its spinnaker 
pulling to good effect and by the end of the first lap, Paul and Steve were in the lead.   

The afternoon had also brought some stronger breezes and this transformed the 
fortunes of some of the boats.  After a rather slow-burn morning race, David Harker's 
RS Feva caught light in the fresher wind of the afternoon and was motoring well 
when David got the gennaker flying.  Also making good strides were the new pairing 
of Derek Farnfield and Alan Comber in the Wanderer, when after a first race of 
standing on the wrong bits of rope at inopportune moments, they got things together 
much better in the afternoon.  Ahead of both these boats on the water, however, Mike 
Ford had taken out John Chandler's Bosun as John took over race office duties; the 
Bosun behaved well for its guest helm and despite Mike having to spill wind in a few 
of the windier patches, was kicking up a fine bow wave on the beats.  None of these 
competitors bothered the Scorpion, though, which showed the fleet a clean pair of 
heels and crossed the line over two minutes ahead of Neil Wallace's Wayfarer, 
sufficient to give Paul and Steve a 30 second win over Neil on handicap, with Jane 
Anderson keeping her full rig going well in the stronger winds to finish third overall 
and first in the Ladies Cup..  David Higgs showed good style to cross the line in his 
Laser in fourth place but dropped back down the fleet on handicap.  The two Toppers 
had a very tightly-fought race and were nearly neck-and-neck coming to the final 
mark, but in trying to cut inside Vicki at the turn, John Duncalf touched the mark and 
in doing his penalty, left Vicki clear to take fourth equal, tieing on handicap with 
Mike Ford.  The biggest applause of the day was reserved for Fraser Martyn, who in 
his first outing of the season battled round in the Pico to complete the course and, 
with other juniors away, picked up maximum points for the Junior Helm.

Results: 1st Paul Whybrow and Steve Axford (Scorpion), 2nd Neil Wallace and Nicky 
Buckett (Wayfarer), 3rd Jane Anderson (Laser), 4th= Vicki Duncalf (Topper), 4th= Mike 
Ford (Bosun), 6th John Duncalf (Topper), 7th David Harker (RS Feva), 8th John 
Buckett (Otter), 9th Derek Farnfield and Alan Comber (Wanderer), 10th David Higgs 
(Laser), 11th John Savage (Cadet), 12th Fraser Martyn (Pico)