Porte Shield, Race 3
Sailors were greeted with glorious sunshine but little wind on Sunday 15th September.
22 boats launched anyway, in the hope that the 6 knots that was forecast would materialise….and it duly did.
A reverse ‘P’ course was set with a clubhouse start, producing a very long line…most competitors chose the beach end with a few at the pin-end.
However, one or two boats were over the line, dragging the rest of the fleet with them & a general recall was the result!
The new sequence was started briskly and it seemed like Déjà vu! This time however, those in the race office could identify the 9 boats that weren’t over the line at the horn & so the remaining 13 boats were OCS.
Very disappointing for Ross Fisher in his Blaze & Martin & Connor Gillam (Lark) who would have occupied the top 2 spots.
1st place went to Peter Jones (Blaze), followed by Richard Bentley (Aero 7) & then James Gerwat (Supernova).
Andy Coleman (Laser Radial) came in 4th & is beginning to show some consistency in only her first season.
Hago Cup, Races 2 & 3
The wind increased a little & a few waves began to develop for the second race of the day: Race 2 of the Hago Cup.
Ross Fisher (Blaze), got a great start & took good advantage of the clean air to control the race.
The 3 boats behind, Peter Jones (Blaze), Martin & Connor Gillam (Lark) & James Gerwat (Supernova) were battling it out for 2nd place. The Lark would pull away from the Supernova on the beat and then the Supernova would catch the Lark on the next 3 legs….except for the final lap!
The Lark took the 2nd place, 40 seconds on corrected time behind Ross Fisher.
Peter Jones was 2 seconds behind the Lark & the Supernova 1 second behind the Blaze.
Richard Bentley (Aero7) was 5th & 6th place was shared by Richard Ganley (Blaze) & Josh James (Topper).
The final race of the day was Race 3 of the Hago Cup.
3 or 4 boats had the pin-end to themselves & so started on port unchallenged.
The Supernova (James Gerwat) benefitted the most, crossing in front of the whole fleet & was first to the windward mark, closely followed by Ross Fisher (Blaze).
By the end of the first lap, the Blaze went ahead of the Supernova & the next Blaze (Richard Ganley) was closing the gap.
Eventually Richard Ganley passed the Supernova which was now being caught by Peter Jones (Blaze) & the Aero 7 of Richard Bentley.
Ross Fisher continued to extend his lead at the front with the other 2 Blazes trying to reel him in to no avail.
Richard Bentley passed the Supernova & the RS200 (Abi & Sophie Bentley) was not far behind.
The final lap saw the Supernova regain it’s position on the water, just ahead of the Aero (the wind had dropped) & the RS200 was just behind.
Once again, the Topper of Josh James put in another great performance to finish 7th.
1st Ross Fisher, 2nd James Gerwat, 3rd Richard Bentley
Full results are on the website!