Start of the first race, with the Bosun of John Buckett, Christine Hartigan and Alan Comber away first and Stuart Mealing just behind, but James Pollard with the windward advantage
Roger Heasman on starboard tack, with everybody else on port, as the boats make the long tactical beat up the lake
Nice close-up of Jane Chadney helming the club Bosun, with Brian Pollard as crew
Brilliant action shot of Roger Heasman hiking out in the Streaker, apparently just inching past the angle of the pontoon
New member Andrew Starkey out in his Gull in the foreground, with Nathan Pollard windward boat of the quartet
Robin Spiller in his refurbished Solo, with Linda Spiller out in her newly-acquired Comet Mino, closely followed by Rachel Pomeroy in the Topper
Jane Chadney’s Bosun chasing James and Nathan up the beat
ace, with Elliot now having taken over the Topper from Rachel
Bob Sampson and Jane Anderson get the RS 200 through the fluky southerly winds over the dam to round Dam Green in the lead, a mark that had the potential to be a nightmare all day, as winds and flat calms could be mere yards apart; a point well illustrated by the gust that has Paul Anderson’s Laser heeling, whilst all around the masts of surrounding boats remain perfectly vertical
Most of the fleet have now rounded Dam Green and are running slowly up the lake and though Sue Murray’s Laser 4.7 is currently towards the back of the pack, she was soon overtaking boats to such good effect that she was the ultimate winner on handicap
Paul Anderson just ahead of James Pollard, once more at Dam Green
A trio of Toppers, with Johnahead of both Elliot Pomeroy and Rachel Pomeroy
Jane Anderson’s Laser Radial leads the fleet away in the afternoon race, with James Pollard just behind, but Jane Chadney has just squeezed past the pontoon to gain the windward advantage
A few seconds later and Bob Sampson and Louise Stevens’s RS 200 are showing in the lead, with eventual winner James Pollard now in second place
The club Bosun (its sails bearing the iconic 101 number), with Roger Heasman and Ruth Hieghton-Jackson aboard, leads the Bosun of John Buckett and Brian Pollard, whilst just behind the Toppers and Solo still grappling with Dam Green
Nathan Pollard’s Topper clearly going well to be level pegging with the two Bosuns
John Duncalf gets away first, with Paul Anderson and John Weller going for a port tack approach
John’s Topper still has the advantage, whilst in the background, Nathan Pollard and Bob Sampson head towards the Devon bank
A distant shot of a quartet of Toppers on a broad reach back down the lake, with Elliot Pomeroy’s bow wave showing that at times the gusts could be surprisingly strong
Nathan Pollard just ahead of the RS at the start of the afternoon race, whilst at the Home One buoy end, Nicky Buckett and Jane Anderson are also well up
Seconds later, and most of the fleet are in shot
The whole fleet creating a ribbon of sail down the lake (only Bob Sampson’s RS has forged ahead to miss the picture)
Sue Murray and Jane Anderson’s Laser 4.7’s were locked together for the first half of the race
All stand….! Toby and Simon head downwind in the Bosuns, whilst crews Nicola and Brian sit it out.
The light airs are at least ruffling the water at the start of the midday race but progress is pretty slow
The fleet’s at least now all lined up and heading for Dam Green
An impressively crisp long-distance shot of boats very slowly drifting up towards Pinky – note the mirror-like surface of the water in places
The three boats that pulled away from the rest of the fleet: Jane Chadney’s Laser Radial, Nicky Buckett’s Laser and the RS200 of Bob Sampson and Louise Stevens – whilst much of the rest of the fleet is still half a lake away…
Start of the afternoon race, with Sue Murray and James Pollard the first boats clear
The beat up to Pinky in a good breeze, with all the 18-strong fleet in view
Paul Whybrow’s Solo going well to be up with the Laser Radials of Sue Murray and Nicky Buckett
Excellent close-up of James Pollard rounding Dam Green, on the way to crossing the line streets ahead of the next boat
Using Start Line 2 called for difficult judgements from helms on whereabouts on the start line to be: here James Pollard’s Laser Radial is ahead (but to leeward) of Steve Axford’s Laser and Bob Sampson’s RS200
Just occasionally the breeze filled in for a few lucky boats – here Bob Sampson and Jane Anderson in the RS200 are going really rather nicely
But much of the time it was just a question of sitting and waiting: here Adam Hilton and James Pollard chat as they drift along
Start of the afternoon race, still on Start Line 2, with the breeze now little more than a whisper
Coming and going to West White: here it looks as if Adam Hilton’s Solo has crept into the lead
Looking for the wind? Bob Sampson and John Duncalf peering both sides of the mainsail, whilst in the background the same fisherman as in a previous picture stares impassively on
Paul Whybrow en-route to a win on handicap
The story of the afternoon…. As they head towards Middle, the two leading boats look to have found a nice patch of breeze and have little bow waves, whilst not far away, the other three dinghies look to be moving much more slowly
Start of the midday race, with a short beat towards Dam Green again: husband-and-wife duo of Jane and Paul Anderson showing ahead in their respective Lasers
Good close up of James Pollard approaching Dam Green, just in front of Linda Spiller in her Comet
The fleet on a broad reach from Dam Green to the next mark at Home 2
All smiles on the Quebec: Toby helming, with Hamish and new club member Jamie Godwin crewing
Good action shot of Rachel Pomeroy initiating a tack in the ‘Mike Ford’
Mixture of port and starboard approaches to the line at the start of the afternoon race
It gets very busy round Dam Green at the start of a race when there’s a sizeable fleet out – but Paul Anderson has got clear away
Paul Anderson’s Laser alongside Nathan Pollard’s Topper
Bob Sampson, just back from a week in the Med honing his high-wind sailing skills, looks very comfortable in the Laser 4.7 as he passes Middle on a broad reach. The rest of the fleet are in a close quartet behind.
Good close-up of Simon Veal and Nicola Clay, working hard in the Bosun; the small breadth of foreshore in the background shows how much the lake level has already risen in the last week or two
Simon getting back to his roots as the Bosun submarines in a gust across the windiest part of the lake; behind, the odd angle of the boom on the ‘Mike Ford’ is due to the kicker coming unjammed in a gust, which couldn’t be re-tightened until the boat reached the relative quiet of the more sheltered water down towards the Dam. Adam Hilton’s Solo is also well up on the plane. Windspeeds of 25mph with gusts of 34mph were recorded at Chivenor Met Station at midday, with higher speeds later!
Nicola Clay finds a moment to relax as the Bosun heads into calmer waters
Adam Hilton, going very well in his Solo with a smaller sail to still be tucked in just behind the Bosun at this point
Nathan Pollard’s Topper hull almost disappearing beneath the spray as he planes back across the middle of the lake
Bob Sampson’s Laser 4.7 and Nathan’s Topper almost side-by-side in the afternoon race
Nathan ‘s Topper meets the wake of a high-speed Bosun going the other way….
