Brian Pollard goes for a port tack flyer with his Tasar in the foreground and, despite appearances, apparently just managed to get clear away in front of the advancing starboard tack boats in the background
The fleet heads down from Middle towards a gybe at Pinky
Not quite enough wind to lift the Streakers and Laser Radial onto the plane
On a later lap, Paul Whybrow’s red-hulled Solo leads a group of boats heading towards the next mark at Zebra
In the second race of the day, Nathan Pollard makes a great start in his Laser Radial
After a slow start, Robin Spiller is moving up the fleet as he glides downwind between Roger Heasman and Penny Abbott, on his way to an eventual win on handicap
Never mind the boats, look at all the bird life (with cormorant, heron and geese all in evidence in the background); the fleet leaders head for the windward mark at West White
Lovely photo of close quarters competition amongst the leaders, with Nathan still holding onto a narrow advantage on the water
Jane Anderson gets away clear at the start of the first of two ‘Spare’ races
New boat on the lake, Brian Pollard’s Tasar, charts a different course in the foreground as the remainder of the fleet favour the Devon bank after the start
Lovely shot of a cluster of boats in close contention rounding Dame Red and Green, with Adam Hilton’s Solo going well to be up in contention with Lasers
Lots of pressure on the windward end of the line at the start of the second race
Sixteen boats spread out across the lake in the second race – definitely the sign of a buoyant club (sorry)
Linda Spiller’s Laser hardening up round Dam Green
Still some powerful very localised gusts, even on an apparently benign day: Toby’ s Bosun almost dips its gunwale, whilst just behind, the Tasar and John Savage’s Solo stay rock steady
Great action photo of Bob Sampson looking for the layline
The majority of the fleet lines up at the windward end of the start, as James Pollard leads the fleet away on a Cup race
Nathan Pollard, in his Laser 4.7, leads Bob Sampson in the Radial on the beat up the lake
Really close, exciting, racing between the Laser Radials at the front of the fleet, with Steve Axford leading at this point
Nice character study of Jane Anderson, eventual handicap winner of the morning race, out in her Topper
On yet another day when competitors had to contend with sometimes evil gusts, James Pollard here generates an impressive amount of heel as he starts to harden up round Dam Red
On yet another day when competitors had to contend with sometimes evil gusts, James Pollard here generates an impressive amount of heel as he starts to harden up round Dam Red
A rare moment, with all three sailing members of the Pollard family in shot during the Pursuit race
Steve Axford generates a plume of spray as he surfs through the bow wave of the Bosun, which has Geoff Floyd added to the usual crew of Cilla Gilbert, to help Brian keep the boat flat in the sometimes rumbustious win
Five boats almost in a line as a smaller than usual fleet heads towards Dam Green, with Robin Spiller nicely placed to windward
The leading boats catch a gust to accelerate towards Inlet White, catching out a surprised gig cox, who had to do some rapid manoeuvring to keep out of the way
The front quartet just about to round the buoy
Jane Anderson on her way to victory in the midday race, keeping an eagle eye on the burgee, vital on a day when the wind direction could (and did) vary hugely almost by the second
Start of the afternoon race, where Bob Sampson is just a tad early at the line and is about to circle round and re-start
The cormorant on the RIB turns its back on the excitement as the fleet glides slowly past
On a day when the Kestrel was inclined to be wilful and headstrong, Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert enjoy a brief moment when a gust got the boat moving well
With a short course chosen to keep out of the way of fishermen at the top end of the lake, the race eventually started to resemble a Pursuit, with boats strung right out round the circuit. Here the eventual winner on handicap, John Dabbs heads downwind in the foreground, whilst just behind, the two Otters of John B and John S beat upwind into a breeze that had eventually swung right round to the north and started to blow with increasing vigour
Just after the start of the midday race, with just one of the many capsizes of the day, as Bob starts to right his Laser
Reaching back from Far, with the two Laser Radials in the lead
James Pollard hurtling downwind in a cloud of spray, shortly before deciding that the conditions were getting close to ‘breakage weather’ and opting to retire
Whitecaps in the background across the middle of the lake, as Bosun and Topper negotiate the conditions in different styles
Sue Murray gets her Topper nicely onto the plane
The five-boat fleet gets away for the afternoon race, with conditions equally as testing as in the morning
Jane Anderson to windward as this trio of boats set out on their first lap
Bob Sampson almost ducking the end of his boom into the water as he bears away round West White, with James Pollard just behind about to start the manoeuvre
On a course using Start Line 2, Jane Anderson gets away well on starboard in the foreground, whilst Nathan Pollard goes for a port tack start on the extreme right of the picture
Forming an orderly queue as Nathan heads a quartet of boats rounding Dam Green, with Robin Spiller, Paul Anderson and Adam Hilton lining up behind
Jane Anderson already with a good lead over the pursuing quartet
Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert just ahead of the Toppers, with Roger Heasman still catching up after a tardy start
Looks to be lots of concentration on display in this effective close-up of Paul Anderson in the Laser and Roger Heasman in the Streaker
Alan Comber and crew Barney head downwind in the blue-sailed Enterprise in the background, whilst the Bosun picks up speed during a gust in pursuit of Adam’s yellow-hulled Solo in the foreground
Vicki’s Topper just ahead of John Dabbs’ Gull (nursing a hastily-repaired tiller extension) in the afternoon’s Pursuit race; note the point at Inlet (complete with fishermen) extending as the water levels start to drop
Roger Heasman en-route to victory in the Pursuit race on the left of picture
Adam’s Solo capsized in the background (with mastop buoyancy to stop inverting) whilst the fleet are lining up at the start
Heading downwind for what was probably an awkward gybe at Middle in the unpredictable gusts
Jane Chadney just ahead of Roger Heasman in a momentarily calm patch as they bear away round Dam Green
Start of the afternoon race, with Jane Anderson’s Topper apparently stealing a march on the rest of the (now smaller) fleet
The two Bosuns just ahead of John Weller helming the Enterprise as the trio head for Dam Red
The trio of Toppers, with Adam Hilton’s Solo keeping them company, Tamar’s pine-clad ‘cliff’ in the background
Brian Pollard and a returning-after-injury Cilla Gilbert on their way to a first place across the line (and an impressive third on handicap)
The suddenness and intensity of the gusts illustrated by this shot of the red-hulled Bosun, with the gunwale almost in the water despite sailing three-up (and with Toby and Sally hiking out) and with Otter sails
Nathan Pollard’s Laser Radial just ahead of Sue Murray’s Laser 4.7 as they come out of the lee of the hillside by Inlet White and start to plane across to Zebra
Adam Hilton in splendid isolation as he planes downwind, showing just what the Solo is capable of in the right conditions
Paul Whybrow’s red-hulled Solo times the start right, whilst the heron takes flight (or possibly fright) in the foreground
The two Solos head up the lake
A good telephoto shot with almost the whole fleet in view as they come back from the downwind mark, with Jane Anderson in a clear lead
Brian Pollard back out on the water in the Bosun, with John Savage making a guest appearance as crew
Boats still getting to the start line too early, not helped by the fact that the wind had swung and made the start into something approaching a broad reach, so that slowing down was nearly impossible for helms
The front of the fleet ghosts almost to a standstill as they approach Inlet White, with a line of Lasers closing up on Jane Anderson; Robin Spiller is going well in the interloper Streaker at the end of the file
Heading up the lake towards Pinky; nice to see Stuart Mealing out on the water in his Laser, second from left
Similar line of approach for the start of the second race, but with rather more wind; Steve Axford having to bear away downwind from the line in the foreground
A cluster of boats beating up the lake on starboard; nice to see Raily Graham out and going well in her Topper (But note in the background, Jane Chadney, also on starboard, has found a huge lift and seems to be heading at almost 90 degrees to the other boats)
Roger Heasman, having an excellent afternoon race in his Streaker, rounds Dam Green, with Penny Abbott in the background
Vicki giving Raily some helpful directions
Nice head-on shot of Jane Anderson holding off Steve Axford as they prepare to harden up round Dam Green
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