AM: Barnwell 2
Steve Axford, in the only single-handed dinghy in the race – a Laser Radial – crossed the line first, kept the lead throughout and finished nine minutes ahead of the next boat, a lead only reduced by four minutes when the handicaps were applied. Behind him a more complicated and less courageous story unfolded. It had been very windy and gusty all morning; there were white horses up and down the Lake. Those sailors prepared to get into a boat -there were several who were not – opted for the relative safety of Bosuns with small sails. So the two Club-owned Bosuns ventured out with Roger Heasman at the helm and Sally Wills as crew (they were second over the start line) and the other had Brian Pollard helming with Cilla Gilbert. The privateer Bosun was skippered by Adam Hilton and had John Dabbs as crew. By the time these three had tacked to Dam Red and then run down the south easterly to Pinkie, Brian Pollard had got himself past the other two. But that was not the end of the tussle by any means; the three boats were never more than a length or two apart and couldn’t stop changing places. Starboard was called on port tackers and windward boats were pushed further upwind. The Hilton/Dabbs dinghy lost ground when it touched the buoy at Dam Red and it remained at the back of the train until stealing the wind from the others and edging past shortly before Pinkie on lap 3. It managed to keep the place until the horn blew for the finish.
Results:
1. Steve Axford (Laser Radial)
2. Adam Hilton and John Dabbs (Bosun)
3. Roger Heasman and Sally Wills (Bosun)
4. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)
Grateful thanks were given to the Spillers who ran the race and especially to Toby Tobias and Nathan Pollard for braving the cold in the safety boat.
There were no takers for the scheduled Barnwell 3 which was therefore not run.