Commodore 2

Much to the relief of all afloat after recent windless Sundays, this week there was thankfully a strong, gusty breeze blowing down towards the dam.

First across the start line was Paul Whybrow’s Solo, but in the long beat up the lake Jane Anderson found the lead in her Radial rigged Laser.  With the disadvantage of a stiff personal handicap in the second of this new series, she needed to stay far out in front to stand a chance of beating the rest of the mixed fleet and this she soon started to do.  Linda Spiller had a larger full sail on her Laser, but after staying fairly close for the first two laps, she then found herself slipping ever further behind.  Penny Abbott with another full Laser rig, jostled places with the Solo, before catching a lucky wind shift on the last lap to overtake Linda.  This led to a determined battle between the two, Linda just able to regain second place on the water by the finish.  The two Streakers sailed by Roger Heasman and Robin Spiller were well matched, competing in 5^th and 6^th, but after the first lap Roger kept his bow in front.  Two Bosuns each had a Buckett on board, Nicky helming with Sally Wills as crew and John crewing, with Brian Pollard at the helm.  At times both boats were very close, but despite staying ahead and finishing a minute before Brian, Nicky’s personal handicap pushed her far down the final placings.  In the only Topper, Vicki Duncalf brought up the rear of the fleet, but was rewarded when handicaps were applied to finish times.  Jane Anderson’s valiant effort proved sadly for her, not quite enough.

1. Brian Pollard and John Buckett (Bosun)
2. Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
3. Paul Whybrow (Solo)
4. Jane Anderson (Laser Radial)
5. Nicky Buckett and Sally Wills (Bosun)
6. Robin Spiller (Streaker)
7. Roger Heasman (Streaker)
8. Linda Spiller (Laser Full)
9. Penny Abbott (Laser Full)

Tamar 3

Sadly a rig failure prevented Penny Abbott from starting the second race and she was forced to limp back to the beach.

With wind strengthening, the remaining boats were in tight competition across the line.  However, now joined by Nathan Pollard in his full rig, the Lasers soon sailed ahead with Jane Anderson in what was to become an undisputed lead.  Likewise Linda Spiller found herself unable to catch up with Nathan and the race became something of a procession, the only change in position being that of the Bosuns when Nicky Buckett gained a lead over Brian Pollard during lap 3.  A course with several gybes made life more challenging, but the only capsize was an unlucky Roger in his Streaker, towards the end of the race.

1. Jane Anderson (Laser Radial)
2. Nicky Buckett and Sally Wills (Bosun)
3. Brian Pollard and John Buckett (Bosun)
4. Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
5. Nathan Pollard (Laser Full)
6. Linda Spiller (Laser Full)
7. Roger Heasman (Streaker)

Retired: Penny Abbott (Laser Full)

Many thanks go to Geoff Floyd for acting as Officer of the Day and to Mandy Pollard for photographs.

Ladies/Gents/Junior/Gosling 1

Fifteen sailors in thirteen boats took to the water for the noon race on a glorious day which lacked nothing except wind. They milled about, pointing in every different direction, waiting for the start, but there were wily skippers who got away right on the gun – Paul Whybrow (Solo) at the clubhouse end of the line and Jane Anderson (Laser Radial) at the other end. Sally Wills’ Bosun (Roger Heasman  crewing) was on the wrong side of the line at that moment and had to go back; it took them, Linda Spiller (Laser), who mistakenly thought it was her who had started too soon, Toby Tobias in his beautifully refurbished Bosun and the Commodore in his new and underperforming Aero 7  a minute or five to cross the line when finally the horn blew. Another five minutes into the front runners’ race and an easterly zephyr picked them up and drove them towards Pinky with the Whybrow Solo sailing up the Devon bank and the rest in the middle, Robin Spiller in his Streaker going well amongst the Lasers. As the fleet crawled back towards the Dam the minutes clicked by and John Buckett, the Officer of the Day with John Savage, decided that at fifty plus minutes per lap, one lap would be enough. There were multiple changes of order even between Dam Green and the finish line and six boats crossed the line within a minute. First was Jane Anderson with Robin Spiller and Paul Whybrow impossible to separate in second. Meanwhile the vagaries of the wind had pushed the back of the fleet towards the front which brought slower boats with advantageous handicaps to the front of the order.

1. Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
2. Toby Tobias (Bosun)
3. Sally Wills and Roger Heasman (Bosun)
4. Paul Whybrow (Solo)
5. Cilla Gilbert and Brian Pollard (Bosun)
6. Jane Anderson (Laser Radial)
7. Robin Spiller (Streaker)
8. Penny Abbott (Laser)
9. Linda Spiller (Laser)
10. Nathan Pollard (Laser)
11. Bob Sampson (Laser)

Retired Adam Hilton (Aero 7), John Dabbs (Gull)

Tamar 2

There was a little more wind and the fleet started towards Pinky on a starboard tack, Jane Anderson (Laser Radial) just leading. But by the end of the lap it was Penny Abbott (Laser) who led with Bob Sampson (Laser) second. Roger Heasman with Sally Wills led the Bosun race at the end of each lap with Brian Pollard (with Cilla Gilbert) and Toby Tobias swapping places behind him. Nathan Pollard (Laser) had a successful second lap, going from fifth at the end of lap 1 to first at the end of lap 2, a position he retained at the finish and it was only Jane Anderson’s smaller sail that deposed him in the adjusted results.

1. Jane Anderson (Laser Radial)
2. Nathan Pollard (Laser )
3. Bob Sampson (Laser)
4. Penny Abbott (Laser)
5. Linda Spiller (Laser)
6. Sally Wills and Roger Heasman (Bosun)
7. Robin Spiller (Streaker)
8. John Dabbs (Gull)
9. Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
10. Toby Tobias (Bosun)
11. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)

Retired Adam Hilton (Aero 7)

Grateful thanks were given to John Buckett and John Savage who ran the races and to Mandy and James Pollard for photography.

Commodore 1

The high winds continued with their accompanying Tamar Lake super-gusts. This year the Club’s Commodore series has an innovative new handicap system which takes into account the past performance of the skipper as well as the boat. None of these factors stopped Jane Anderson (Topper) getting away first; she was followed by the Laser 4.7s of Bob Sampson and Nathan Pollard. Two battles ensued; a Laser battle in which Nathan Pollard led Bob Sampson at the end of lap 1 but not at the end of laps 2 and 3. And a David and Goliath battle in which Roger Heasman and Sally Wills (small sails on their Club Bosun) overtook Jane Anderson and finished each lap ahead until the last. New handicaps or not, the results put the competitors in the same order as they finished on the water.

1. Bob Sampson (Laser 4.7)
2. Nathan Pollard (Laser 4.7)
3.  Jane Anderson (Topper)
4. Roger Heasman, Sally Wills (Bosun)

Pursuit 1

Jane Anderson’s was the first boat to set off in the Pursuit race. She was followed two minutes later by Nathan Pollard and the Heasman/Wills Bosun, now with full-size sails. After another four minutes came Bob Sampson in the rear. But the wind had not abated and the gusts had increased in strength. Jane Anderson decided on the first lap that her neat frame would need a good few extra kilos if it were to keep the Topper up-right for the 67 minute length of the Pursuit race; she retired. The Lasers were planing across from Inlet to West, spray flying but Nathan Pollard was caught out rounding Dam Green and had to practice his dry capsize technique. A gust caught out the Bosun, up-ended it and it took all the efforts of the crew and the safety boat (John Weller and Brian Pollard) to get it upright and towed back to the pontoon. While this was going on Bob Sampson also gave up the uneven struggle with the winds. Nathan Pollard was left, alone and magnificent, to win the race, a second capsize after the finish not deterring him.

1.  Nathan Pollard (Laser 4.7)

Retired: Jane Anderson (Topper), Roger Heasman, Sally Wills (Bosun) and Bob Sampson (Laser 4.7)

Grateful thanks were given to Nicky Buckett and Linda Spiller who ran the races and to John Weller and Brian Pollard for safety boat duties.

Click here to see Race Series Results 2019 including times – last updated on 15th April 2019

Cup 1

There was a lot of wind on the Lake, gusty, blustery wind coming from the east. Jane Anderson again joined Vicki Duncalf in Toppers, Bob Sampson had the smallest available sail on his Laser and various would-be single-handed racers fled to the comfort of Bosuns. The Herbert-Coulsons were unperturbed in their Wayfarer. The start was from the long Home 2 line, to give time and space for a reasonably orderly queue to form rounding Dam Green. The usual start line might well have caused first corner accidents like a motor race! Bob Sampson got away first, followed by Vicki Duncalf and Jane Anderson. And Bob, then Jane, got to Dam Green first followed by John Dabbs (with Adam Hilton and Penny Abbott) in the first of the Bosuns. The Wayfarer took an unlikely course to Dam Green but gained ground fast on the run to Zebra and was soon second. Jane Anderson settled into third, the position she held for the rest of the race. Roger Heasman (with Sally Wills and Geoff Floyd) gained the lead in the Bosun sub-race on lap 1. Brian Pollard was fast catching the other two Bosuns but still had Vicki Duncalf ahead in sixth at the end of lap 1 but he got past her on lap 2 and past the Dabbs/Abbott/Hilton Bosun on lap 4; they cemented their defeat by touching the buoy at Dam Green and having to do a penalty 360° turn.

1. Bob Sampson (Laser 4.7)
2. Jane Anderson (Topper)
3. Mike and Viki Herbert-Coulson (Wayfarer)
4. Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
5. Roger Heasman, Sally Wills and Geof Floyd (Bosun)
6. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)
7. John Dabbs, Adam Hilton and Penny Abbott(Bosun)

Sailboat 1

Nathan Pollard added a second Laser 4.7 to the fleet and got off to a flyer with Bob Sampson and Jane Anderson following him. But Adam Hilton, now helming his Bosun, got round Dam Green in third and led the Bosun race from then on with, on lap 2, Jane Anderson’s Topper overtaking, but never pulling clear of, the Heasman/Pollard Bosun battle. Swooping past all of them from the rear at the start was the Herbert-Coulson’s Wayfarer which took up the lead on lap 2 and kept it. The handicap put the Wayfarer behind the Lasers.

1. Bob Sampson (Laser 4.7)
2. Nathan Pollard (Laser4.7)
3. Mike and Viki Herbert-Coulson (Wayfarer)
4. Jane Anderson (Topper)
5. Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
6. Adam Hilton, Penny Abbott and John Dabbs (Bosun)
7. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)
8. Roger Heasman, Sally Wills and Geoff Floyd (Bosun)

Grateful thanks were given to John Duncalf and Paul Anderson who ran the races, to Toby Tobias and Paul Petvin for safety boat duties and to Mandy Pollard for photographs.

Barnwell 5

For the first race of the season the sun shone brightly but the brisk north-easterly winds were cold. There were two Lasers in the fleet; Bob Sampson got his over the line first with Nathan Pollard hard on his heels. Vicki Duncalf (Topper) followed closely with the jolly threesome of Dabbs/McKee/Petvin in the Club’s Bosun slightly slow to reach the start line. It was a true beat to Inlet with the wind becoming unpredictable as the trees behind the buoy disrupted it. Nathan Pollard had his bow ahead of Bob Sampson for a while but a judicious choice of tacks put Bob round the mark first and on the planing reach to West he stayed in front and remained there in the long beat to Far. These two were still close at the end of lap 1 but on the second Bob Sampson pulled out a lead which he extended as the race progressed, finishing a couple of minutes in front of Nathan. John Dabbs had managed to get past Vicki Duncalf in the beat up to Inlet and stayed in touch with the leaders for the first lap giving hope for a win on handicap. The gap had increased by the finish of the race but at six minutes behind Nathan Pollard the Bosun trio still got second place on handicap.

1. Bob Sampson (Laser)
2. John Dabbs, Paul McKee and Paul Petvin (Bosun)
3. Nathan Pollard (Laser)
4. Vicki Duncalf (Topper)

Barnwell 6

Bob Sampson generously swapped places in the safety boat with Adam Hilton, giving Adam the chance to race his new Aero 5 for the first time. The winds had freshened so that the Aero and the Pollard Laser crossed the start line at some speed and at much the same moment. Nathan soon pulled away. Vicki Duncalf again started in front of the Dabbs Bosun (now with Paul Petvin as the sole crew) but she was overtaken on the fast reach across to West. A capsize at Inlet left Adam Hilton at the back of the fleet and another during the gybe at Pinkie caused him to retire. On the second lap Vicki Duncalf was also caught out but carried on to gain second place to Nathan Pollard. The Dabbs/Petvin Bosun retired after the race; they had signed on with Paul Petvin as helm but the strength of the wind deterred him.

1. Nathan Pollard (Laser)
2.  Vicki Duncalf (Topper)

Retired: Adam Hilton (Aero 5), John Dabbs and Paul Petvin (Bosun)

Grateful thanks were given to Roger Heasman and Cilla Gilbert who ran the race, to Brian Pollard, Adam Hilton and Bob Sampson for safety boat duties and to Mandy Pollard for photographs.

Barnwell 7

Dramatically Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert, in the Club’s Bosun, were dismasted in the moments before the start, leaving four boats to scramble across the start line at much the same moment. The winds being south-easterly they started towards the Tamar Lake dam with Nathan Pollard’s Laser having the acceleration to pull ahead and round Dam Green in the lead. He stayed ahead racelong, lapping Vicki Duncalf’s Topper and finishing some ten minutes in front of anyone else. Jane Anderson, reduced to a Topper by the strength of the gusty winds, nonetheless took the first buoy in second place and shot ahead of the Bosun helmed by Adam Hilton and crewed by Paul Petvin and Tom McKee. The Bosun’s battle was with Vicki Duncalf whom it balked at various buoys before getting legitimately ahead on lap 3 (of 5). Applying this year’s handicaps changed winners into losers.

1. Jane Anderson (Topper)
2. Nathan Pollard (Laser)
3. Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
4. Adam Hilton, Tom McKee and Paul Petvin (Bosun)

DNS: Brian Pollard, Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)

Tamar 1

The Pollard/Gilbert Bosun now had a mast but it was last over the start line. This turned out to be an advantage because it had time to avoid the fast starting Laser of Nathan Pollard which capsized at Dam Green causing the Hilton/Petvin/McKee Bosun to lose time avoiding it. Vicki Duncalf therefore began the long run up the lake in the lead; however Nathan Pollard soon caught her up and was never again headed. Brian Pollard overtook the Duncalf Topper which continued its earlier scrap with the slower Bosun which never got far enough ahead to overcome its handicap disadvantage.

1. Nathan Pollard (Laser)
2. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)
3. Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
4. Adam Hilton, Tom McKee and Paul Petvin (Bosun)

Grateful thanks were given to Vicky Herbert and Sally Wills who ran the races, to Bob Sampson and Roger Heasman for safety boat duties and to Mandy Pollard for photographs.