Adam and Vicki go for an upwind start, squeezing past the the pontoon on the way to the first mark
Adam Hilton wth an early lead, just ahead of Bob Sampson and Nathan Pollard, whose Lasers were to contest the lead for much of the race
Time for a laugh, even though competition for the lead remained so close for most of the race
Very little breeze for the start of the afternoon race, judging by the sails hanging limply in the sun
Help, I’m surrounded…. Bob has to chart a careful course between encircling canoeists
Cutting things to a whisker… Nathan shaves past Dam Green as Roger and Sally look on in the Bosun
Linda Spiller leads Jane Chadney and Jane Anderson as the trio of Lasers edge slowly up towards the top end of the lake
And all of a sudden, the mirror-like surface of the water has gone and there are little wavelets on the water as Paul Whybrow finds quite a reasonable breeze as he rounds Dam Green on hs way to victory on handicap
Fierce competition at the far end of the start line for the midday Cup race, with one or two boats have to return for a re-start
Good to see John Savage out on the water in his Solo, just ahead of John Dabbs’ Gull
Mike and Viki Coulson’s Wayfarer ‘Papillon’ iin the lead, just about to set the spinnaker for the short run across from Middle to Inlet, whilst not far behind is Jane Anderson in her Laser Radial, on her way to a double of victories on handicap
Chasing downwind after the two front-runners, Adam Hilton is leader of the pack (Brmm,brmm….) as he leads the bulk of the fleet towards the gybe at Middle
A brisker breeze for the start of the afternoon race, as a strengthening sea breeze combines with the (mainly) Westerly wind to give much fresher conditions on the water, with no windless holes for unsuspecting helms to fall into, as happened in the morning race (apologies for the jib of errant Otter on the pontoon, spoiling the photo)
Both Wayfarer and the Laser Radial of Sue Murray getting up onto the plane as they reach back from Inlet White to Zebra
Brillantly captured photo of follow-my-leader as Penny Abbott leads a quartet of boats in line astern as they harden up after Dam Green
Excellent close-up of Sue Murray, who has a determined look as she heads towards a second-place finish on handicap
Roger Heasman and Sally Wills in the ‘Rob Eason’, making up for a slow start after incurring penalty turns, just behind the Enterprise of Alan Comber and John Weller
The club’s biggest fleet of the season so far takes to the water for the midday race
Heading slowly downwind towards Pinky
Bob and Sue manage to get the RS200’s gennaker flying as they find a gentle zephyr just astern of Nathan Pollard’s Laser
Attractive photo with the reflections of the sails on the smooth water – but an indication that the wind gradually died away as the race progressed
Changes in the direction of the dying wind mean that it now seems to be a beat up to Pinky
And by this point, helms were starting to seriously consider retiring from the race…
A much better breeze for the afternoon race, as the sea breeze belatedly kicked in – but sadly the fleet was by now considerably smaller, as many helms had packed up after the midday drift
Bob Sampson gets away first in a closely contested start; Jane Chadney was over the line at the gun and can be seen in them mist, dodging the other boats as she works her way back
‘Papillon’, the new Wayfarer on the lake in the foreground, with Nicky Buckett (n her frst race of the year) and Sally Wills in the ‘Bubbles’, going well in the background
Bob just ahead of Nathan as they compete for the lead on the water
A smaller fleet starts the afternoon race, into a wind that had swung somewhat more northerly
Jane Anderson seems to be pointing considerably higher than the rest of the fleet on the way to the first mark
Tight competition once again in the afternoon, with Nathan having squeezed ahead of Bob at this point
A quartet of boats illustrating the wide variety of dinghy classes that sail at Upper Tamar
No sign here of the gusts that made for some tricky sailing conditions further up the lake
The fleet negotiates the gybe at the first mark, Dam Green, just after the start
The two Toppers of Jane and Vicki, sailing in tandem just after the start
A poignant picture: Nathan braving the elements during one of the day’s sharp squalls that ripped across the lake
Heading for Dam Green again
The start of the afternoon Tamar Trophy race, with Nathan and Bob both needing lightning reactions to survive the sudden gusts that came scudding across the water, often leaving boats just a few feet away completely unaffected
Jane Anderson on her way to the second of her victories of the day
Brian Pollard and Geoff Floyd try out John White’s Bosun
Close racing between the two Laser 4.7’s of Bob and Nathan
The Kestrel gets away first on the beat to Dam Red
Boats apparently moving at reasonable speeds at this juncture as the Kestrel rounds Dam Red
But the fleet appears to have almost come to a standstill (judging by the lack of wakes) as the boats bunch up heading for the Inlet
Robin Spiller’s Streaker and Nathan’s Laser Radial close-hauled on the beat back down the lake
Back to a drift by the time of the afternoon Pursuit Race
New boat on the lake, a smart-looking Wayfarer (complete with McNamara sails) gets its spinnaker flying – in itself a relateively rare sight at the lake
Nathan Pollard on his way to victory in the afternoon Pursuit race
The safety boat heads out to help work out the positions just before the hooter sounds for the end of the Pursuit
Nathan Pollard leads the field away from Dam Green, with Paul Anderson also making a good start in second and John’s Topper just rounding the mark in third
A determined-looking Jane Anderson beating back towards the Dam,on her way to victory on handicap, with a more tranquil Jane Chadney just behind
A first-class photo of Roger Heasman and Sally Wills out in the RS200 (though they had a much more successful sail when they switched to the Bosun for the afternoon race)
Paul Anderson having to hike out in his full-rig Laser
A relatively rare outing for the club Kestrel, with Adam helming and John Dabbs as crew; in the background are the Tasar and the red-hulled Bosun (which must have been hard work for a crewless Toby, who had his work cut out to keep the boat level on the beats at times)
James Pollard goes for a starboard tack start right down by the pontoon, whilst most of the fleet goes for a port tack option
James’s starting tactic looks to be vindicated as he pulls out a good lead in the short beat to the first mark
Linda Spiller braving the cold in her Laser 4.7, with Nathan gliding downwind in the background
Relatively rarely used, Start Line 2 very often leads to a widely spread-out fleet and it’s no exception here, but James Pollard, hovering on the line on port tack, gets it just right
Mike Coulson and Viki Herbert-Coulson get the ‘Rob Eason’ going nicely, despite a day of some erratic and vicious gusts
Sue Murray looks for the wind shifts on the beat back from Middle to Dam Green
A day to opt for the Topper: Jane Chadney downsizes to good effect on another blustery Sunday
Reverting to Start Line 1 for the second race, James Pollard still gets away well in the foreground, with Jane Anderson being the only helm to go for a port start in the background
Jane Anderson’s Topper travelling at speed, whilst James Pollard and Bob Sampson are moving more slowly as they strive to make their potential starboard tack advantage tell
Despite capsizing to windward as the wind just died on him, Bob Sampson is quickly up and heading over onto the centreboard, whilst Steve Axford has to go the long way round
Steve Axford and Bob Sampson race for the finishing line on the final beat back from Middle
