16th June 2019 Race Report

Commodore 4

Force 4 winds with gusts of force 6 and heavy rain were forecast. In the event the powerful and highly variable winds were certainly present but the rain kept off. There was another constraint on sailing; Tamar Lake was hosting a major fishing competition with some sixty fishermen lining the shore. With sailors having to keep thirty yards off any shore with fishermen on it, the upper narrower part of the Lake was not available for racing. To achieve an hour’s competition, the Officer of the Day, Robin Spiller, designed a short course, covering the pontoon end and the centre of the Lake. There were to be six laps.

Adam Hilton’s Bosun, with Paul Petvin and Linda Spiller crewing, led the little fleet across the starting line a moment before the horn blew; he had to turn back and started last. Brian Pollard’s Bosun, with Cilla Gilbert, was the first legal starter with Nathan Pollard (Laser 4.7) and Geoff Floyd, who’d equipped his Solo with a cut-down sail, following. The Solo was still a handful and coping with near disaster let the Hilton/Petvin/Spiller Bosun past. Nathan Pollard’s little 4.7 sail was quite enough to power the boat around the short course at breakneck speed and he had lapped the field well before the end.

  1. Nathan Pollard (Laser 4.7)
  2. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)
  3. Adam Hilton, Paul Petvin and Linda Spiller (Bosun)
  4. Geoff Floyd (Solo)

Sailboat 4

Over lunch the winds, ignoring all instructions from the meteorologists, dropped substantially. Linda Spiller and Jane Anderson were still wary and went out in a Laser 4.7 and Topper respectively. Nathan Pollard threw caution to the winds and let them blow him round the course in a full-sailed Laser. The Bosuns retained their small sails but were now helmed by Cilla Gilbert and Paul Petvin respectively. Nathan Pollard soon took the lead and again lapped much of the fleet. An exception was Linda Spiller who held second position throughout and finished four minutes behind Nathan. Novice helm Paul Petvin kept ahead of Cilla Gilbert until near the end but Geof Floyd, who’d not had a good start, took his Solo past everybody except the two leading Lasers in the course of the race.

  1. Jane Anderson (Topper)
  2. Linda Spiller (Laser 4.7)
  3. Nathan Pollard (Laser Full)
  4. Cilla Gilbert and Brian Pollard (Bosun)
  5. Geof Floyd (Solo)
  6. Paul Petvin and Adam Hilton (Solo)

Thanks  were given to Robin Spiller who ran the races and to Mandy and Brian Pollard for photography.