
Patches of sunshine and a good but
manageable breeze made the Spring start very easy. The westerly
stayed gusty through the day with bursts around 15-17 knots or a
little more, falling back to 7-10 and quiet occasional lulls.
Tactically it was essential to grab the sustained gusts, as 30 yards
upwind could be gained, and 50 yards or more downwind when a run
became a burst of fast reaching.
The club set the same
rhomboid course for two pairs of back to back races, with a
tactical question never clearly answered---whether to take
shorter boards along the lee shore, or stand out to where
there seemed more wind in the middle of the lake.
The shore-based
start kept a marked port end bias, with little room at the
starboard end of the line (risking both weed and a
wind-shadow) restricting the option of zooming down on
starboard at the port end, although this remained the
favoured tactic.
In
Race 1,
Paul Ellis rounded first and then extended his lead
steadily, an ominous sign for the others. Cliff Antill
pulled back after a slow start to third behind John holding
second, and in a close bunch with Dave Jennings battled
around the long race until John pulled away again for
second.
Alastair Forrest was well back, but gained on the third beat
tacking out into the lake, and a welcome gust doing this
again when beating for the line saw him snatch 4th from Dave
and threaten Cliff.
(Below: Paul gets away upwind (for the race and the event)
while Alastair and Cliff still run down.)

Beginning Race 2, Paul led Cliff away on a good starboard start at
the port end, with John starting late on port, followed still later
by Alastair---but Alastair then found his forced leg to the shore got
him a sustained lift and a first lap lead from John.
The next beat saw
Paul pull up, to power across to the mark on starboard,
catching Alastair on port, who tacked just below him (nerves
on both boats fraught at the high-speed meeting) and then
was close enough to catch Paul again downwind.
The next beat and run saw Paul again holding the lead, just
ahead. Cliff caught John, but was again caught. Dave this
time did not hold the speed from Race 1.
(Below: Race 2: Paul leads Cliff
in a good start on starboard (background) but Alastair's dreadful late
port start (foreground) is taking him to an undeserved big lift along
the shore.)

In Race 3, Paul at
the top mark was followed closely by Alastair, and they stretched
away after John and Cliff tangled and stalled behind them at the
windward mark. Alastair was close enough to catch Paul downwind and
lead after lap 1, with John and Cliff tight together further back.
Cliff tried some brief trapezing in the longer gusts with no obvious
gain.
Paul took back
the lead upwind, and on lap 3 Cliff climbed to 2nd Alastair dropped
back, and Dave pulled up.
(Below: Dave pushes Cliff downwind whil a
cloud of Toppers wait.)

For Race 4,
Alastair converted a good start to a useful lead near the top mark
only to have the rig trip and Paul go past, to hold a lead to the
finish. Cliff followed Alastair closely around the laps (including
picking up his hat knocked off gybing) the distance closing and
opening.
Alastair led around the last
mark, but Cliff bore off for speed in the final beat to cross
narrowly for 2nd, clinching second place for the event. John stayed
further back in 4th through the race and Dave elected to warm up on
shore for this one.
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FINAL POINTS
(One discard)
First
Paul Ellis
3 points
Second
Cliff Antill
7 “
Third
John Peperell
8 “
Fourth
Alastair Forrest
9 “
Fifth
Dave Jennings
16 “
(Left:
Paul (507) Cliff (17) and Dave (2090) ease upwind)
(Below: A busy spring Sunday morning at Bewl Valley SC.)
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