Halifax Sailing Club TT : Summer Series
Saturday 12th - Sunday 13th May 2007

The weather forecast wasn’t great: plenty of rain. Wind was forecast for a SW 3-4 on Saturday, backing to E 2-3 on Sunday. This seemed to have put travellers off; coupled with the previous traveller event being 2 weeks prior, sickness, holidays & prior engagements resulted in only 4 of our 8 home boats & 2 travellers attended.

Saturday
The Race Officers Chris Holden & Richard Readman laid a switchback course which worked well, giving 2 beats, 2 runs & 2 reaches per lap.

Race 1: Only Charles Watson & Kevin Dutch were on the line at the start. Dutch footed off below Watson up the first beat, but Watson had spotted a shift & that the first buoy could be laid. The wind was lively and kept the competitors’ on their toes. Steve Davison had a tough race taking 5 (we think) swims before retiring with a broken rudder bearing; a good effort for only his 5th sail in a cat. Down one of the quieter runs Dutch was seen to make the international signal for “I’m reeling you in” to Watson, who reacted by dropping a gear & stretching out his lead over the subsequent laps to take the gun from the “Young Pretender” Dutch with Steve Tunnacliffe in 3rd.

Race 2: Watson & Dutch tried port fliers but ended up weaving between the starboard starters, much to Ray Gall’s delight who was first to the windward mark, with all boats rounding tightly together & much banter ensuing down the 1st reach. Dave Walker was having a great race in front of Dutch until on the tight lee shore beat he took a gust & a swim in 2 feet of water & 2 feet of peat. Watson took the gun from Dutch, with Gall making the most of Walker’s lapse in concentration.

Race 3: Watson & Dutch again started on port, this time to much greater effect & pulled out a good lead from the rest of the fleet. Watson lead for the first 3 laps, with Dutch pushing him all the time. While Watson tacked out into deeper water Dutch managed to claw up the lee shore beat & take the lead, only to tack out on the next round with Watson picking up a 10 degree wind shift seconds later & taking the lead to finish first from Dutch & Walker making a good run for third.

The fleet adjourned for the evening to the Delver’s Public House, where sustenance (fairly liquid) was taken.

Sunday
The water was glassy as the competitors arrived & the windmills were motionless. The first race was postponed for 30 minutes to allow the wind to fill in to a respectable force 2 to 3. A similar course was laid to Saturday, but run the opposite way round.

Race 4: Gall tried a cheeky port start, Dutch was just about to call Starboard when the postponement rather than start gun was sounded, the Race Office Kevin Holmes’ watch had gone on the blink. At the second attempt Dutch pushed through at Coffin Corner, with Gall making the sensible decision to avoid Dutch & the committee boat from becoming one. Dutch got up the first beat with a small lead, but Watson covered him down the run & took water at the leeward mark taking the gun & the event from Dutch & Walker.

Race 5: Gall & Davison were too keen to start & had to reach off down the line, while Dutch got the timing right, closely followed by Walker & Tunnacliffe. Gall took the only penalty of the event when touching the first windward mark mark & from then on could not get back in touch with the rest of the fleet. Dutch pulled out a lead of up to 2 minutes, but this was mostly clawed back by Walker, who was then taken by Tunnacliffe on the last lap, to give the finishing positions of Dutch from Tunnacliffe, then Walker.

Thanks go to Halifax Club Members for their efforts on & off the water & to the competitors for a good weekend’s racing.