Another superb morning at Abbey Meads! The sun was shining and the north-easterly breeze was initially gentle, but increased later to allow some planing & ‘bows under’ off wind.
This suited the A rigs on all 3 boats on the simple windward leeward course with the start marks also becoming the leeward gate, with a finish to windward between a mark specifically set for the DFs and an oak truck on the bank. The potential entries did not materialise and they, like the other club Marbleheads, missed 12 races of some really good sailing.
The wind direction was variable and tested Mark, Martin and Roger to find the best course. As often happens at Abbey Meads a basically north-easterly wind could occasionally become north-westerly and sometimes in a blink of an eye automatically change your boat from one tack to another, without you having to touch the helm!
Roger admitted that he was lucky on many occasions to be in the right place at the right time, but his UP was going well both ways and particularly off wind. Mark had a new Dave Creed lightweight bulb beautifully finished onto his Creed fin and his UPROAR was going much better with more turning power, with the rudder angle up to 45° either side of centre.
Soon after lunch we decided to change boats and this led to some rig changes on Martin’s PRIME NUMBER, which helped the boat to be more eager to windward and set some more details to be sorted out in the workshop. Mark was able to win the race with UP when Martin had to go and rescue Mark’s boat in the trees opposite.
Roger did take some photos but they were all overexposed as it is always difficult to see all the settings properly in the bright sunshine. However they give a glimpse of what happened and some speed at the end… Thanks to Mark!
