Class Captain’s notes: A huge thank you to all who braved the chilly weather to attend the first Multihull meeting of this season. There have been a few changes in ownership this year and we welcome Andy Fernie to our fleet! As agreed, the skipper achieving second place from the meetings will win the ‘report writing duty’! Thank you to Andy Cleal for submitting the report from this meeting and setting the standard! Also a personal thank you for not mentioning how many times I managed to capsize!

See you all soon,

Mike Dann (Class Captain)

Multihulls Round 3 Saturday 21^st February 2015 by Andy Cleal
Weather - NW 10-13kts gusting 15-19kts, clear.

Due to the council work on the lakes, it was the first time on the water for the Multihulls this season. Eight skippers attended, including a completely new design from Mike Dann for 2015.

It was shaping up to be another competitive, action packed meeting. The gusty conditions proved challenging in the first race, with Paul Edwards’ tri taking 1st and Peter Fothergill's tri leading Andy Cleal, sailing the first of the cats, by quite a margin.

The second race was close fought. Andy Cleal’s cat took the inside line at the top mark, with Paul Edwards’ tri on the outside. The cat maintained a boat length gap on the reach to the second mark. Both boats made a clean bear away and gybed onto the drag race down the length of the lake, to the third mark. The cat pulled out a 3-4 length lead, which was maintained on the beat to the finish. Peter Fothergill came in 3rd.

Race 3 saw the gusts return on the first leg, with all the skippers flying a hull. Several capsizes allowed Andy Cleal to recover from a poor start, followed by Peter Fothergill. Paul Edwards filled the last podium spot. The early season gremlins were out in force with two retirements.

In Race 4, Peter Fothergill's tri took the lead on the first leg, avoiding the capsizes and a spectacular collision between Mervyn Cook's cat and Andy Cleal. John Smith’s cat took second and Lawrie Draper's lightweight wave piercer came in 3rd.

Race 5 was again close fought, with Peter Fothergill leading Mervyn Cook and Andy Cleal into the top mark, followed closely by Paul Edwards. A clean bear away was made by all the skippers onto the downhill leg. Paul Edwards found enough pace to make a clean pass on Andy Cleal. The gusty up wind leg to the finish proved challenging, with Peter taking 1st in the tri followed by Mervyn's cat and Pauls tri.

After lunch, shake down gremlins and cold fingers saw competitive racing called. Five races allowed for one discard. The day’s results were as follows:

1st Peter Fothergill (Trimaran) with 6 points, once again showing consistency is key.
2nd Andy Cleal (Catamaran) with 9 points.
3rd Paul Edwards (Trimaran) with 9 points
4th John Smith (Catamaran) with 17 points
5th Mervyn Cook (Catamaran) with 18 points
6th Mike Dann (Catamaran) with 19 points
7th Lawrie Draper (Catamaran) with 30 points
8th Andy Fernie (Catamaran) with 30 points