Club Mini40 Racing, Saturday September 7th.
The forecast for gusty NW breeze, shifting during the morning to N, was for once spot-on, and nine boats turned out to try their luck in the squalls! Most rigged in second suit, which turned out to be a good choice in the very shifty winds. Race Officer Jacque Cook had a challenging time setting a course which included any beats at all, but with the help of the fleet managed at least one leg with some windward work. Stars of the day were Eric Meighen, Jay Britton and Andy Fernie, who spent some time on the leeward bank righting capsized boats.
In the first four races Peter Fothergill’s Mike Dann designed cat shared the honours with Lawrie Draper’s Draper Mk 2, self designed and built. Peter then had a run of three wins, followed by another from Lawrie. By that time, Simon Walley had decided that discretion never won points, and removed the rudder foil on his Mike Cooke Shinobi, winning the final four races in style although his boat was in the brink of disaster in the gusts. Simon demonstrated an amazing skill at managing submarining nose-dives while keeping on sailing. Wonderful to watch! In the meantime, Paul Edwards’s very pretty Dann designed cat kept piling in the points with solid second and third places.
After 12 races Peter Fothergill emerged as clear winner, with Lawrie in second and Paul Edwards in third. Simon was in fourth, with Brian Shell’s newly lightened tri coming home in an encouraging fifth place. Special mention for Pete Lawley and Rob Walley who both had a third place but were beset with capsizes and other issues. Young Jay worked hard to control his yellow hulled multi in the gusty conditions but showed some good turns of speed. The next Mini40 racing is scheduled for the 5th of October, and with luck the wind may have swung round to a ‘proper’ SW direction! Look forward to seeing you all there.
Jacque
