Whilst the forecast for most of the day was gloomy, at the start it was a glorious sunny and beautiful day, but the wind… It was north-westerly and initially very fitful and light. We were operating from the Western bank with a beat and run course using the two blue marks as a windward gate and using the start line as the finish for the eight races sailed.
Our visitor, Barrie Martin from MYSA was again welcomed to join us for our series of races and provide good competition to the local fleet.
In the first race Roger was testing out a newly refurbished BOTTLE boat 82 and it went well in the light stuff with a trim that just followed the instructions provided with the boat. In the first race the fleet had a job to get off the starting line and with the first two boats miles ahead the race was abandoned. Normally the start is close to the bank, but as there was no wind there, this caused this abandonment, so the start line was reset across the other side of the lake giving a more true windward leeward course and a steadier breeze. In the light stuff the shorter waterline & less wetted surface design helped Roger win Races 1 & 3, with Barrie Martin winning Races 2, 4 and 5 before the short lunch break.
The final three races were sailed in a much stronger and more northerly breeze, which was more or less straight down the lake and gave Martin a chance to win Race 6 and Paul Tickner to win Race 7 and overcome the friction of his gooseneck, which was not allowing the mainsail to go out. Finally, winner of WWS 2, Les Thorn showed his ability to win the last race.
It was frustrating but genuinely enjoyed by the fleet and by Richard Huckle who joined us for the last half hour and enjoyed sailing BOTTLE boat 82 that Roger had just refurbished.
We look forward to more support from local clubs for the next WWS event for DF 95s on the 17th of November.
