News / Brightlingsea - Golden Dolphin 7-8th May 2011

Saturday dawned with bright sunshine and so it remained the whole weekend, with conditions force 2-4 and flat water. Three races were held on Saturday in a force  2-3, with Alan Krailing and Tim Saunders leading from start to finish with Penny and Ian Gibbs close behind but with a gap opened up to the rest of the fleet.  In the next race Vince Horey and Andy Thompson went right out of the tide and lead all the way around, but had a scare when Mark Maskell and Nigel Sheppard hit a corner on the last beat and nearly took the lead. The third race was held in the lightest conditions, with Mark leading from the windward mark, but with the fleet splitting on the final run. Elaine and Warren Tudor overtook them on the left to win the race, and Ian and Penny Gibbs snuck past Mark and Nigel on the final mark, whilst Nigel undertook a leisurely jibe, just before the short hitch to the finish.

Sunday provided more varied conditions, with the wind more shifty and the tide less important.  Vince and Andy meant business and won the first race overtaking Penny and Ian up the second beat with local "veterans" Alan Carter and Dave Pannell in third.  The second race of the day was interesting with the sea breeze filling in giving lots of pressure on the right and closing up the race at the second windward mark. Local hotshots Chris Rust and Ollie Newman capsized as the puff arrived, but Vince maintained his lead to the finish.

The final race required Penny to stay ahead of Vince to win, so there was some fun close racing with the boats sailing around together the whole race. In the end Penny took the race from Elaine, with the "veterans" Dave and Alan in a close third. Vince was fourth until a coupling with the committee boat as he was crossing the line resulted in a DNF following assistance from the Committee Boat and all rescue boats! However, good fun was had by all in good sailing conditions. Let's hope for the same next year.

Overall results: