Heavy rain caused chaos on the roads with huge puddles, which caused the Gosport team to turn back when the roads were closed.
6 Marbleheads & 3 DF 95s sailed 11 races successfully on the same course in weird conditions when the change from southerly to westerly winds forecast at 10:30 didn’t arrive until lunchtime! The light and very variable winds were a nightmare for RO Martin Crysell, who handled it well including creating the traditional lunch break with hot mulled wine, sausage rolls and mince pies. Mike Barnes added a nice touch with crackers for everyone with jokes that were actually not too bad.
At the break Peter Stollery & Simon Johnson were respectively at the top of the Marblehead & DF 95 leaderboards.
The gathering westerly wind became so strong that the tent protecting the tables of prizes, paperwork etc was in danger of being blown away and had to be taken down. The afternoon’s racing was a great deal of fun with speed and mishaps on the downwind leg and the black gusts flattening those with too big a rig on the beat. Simon Johnson continued his good form by winning all the races until Mike Wilkie & Mike Barnes eventually beat him in the very last race.
Report by Roger Stollery
