Vane 36 Met & Southern Championship 2020 Gosport MY&BC Saturday 7th March
The forecast for the 7th was for dry, cool weather with a gusty SW breeze, set to increase during the day. Skippers initially opted for working rig. Seven boats came to the line including Martin Dovey’s extra-light Sybora. Officials were Mervyn and Eileen, who did a great job on the finish line.
In the first two heats Martin, mated by Gosport’s Deano, declared his intentions with clean sweeps against Alex and then Peter and Paul’s earlier Sybora. In the third heat Martin’s winning streak ended on the beat against Jacque and Eric’s heavier Diversion, and both Peter and Paul, and Graham and Ray’s Road Runner took clean sweeps. The gusts were increasing and beginning to cause problems, and in the fourth and fifth heats changing down was looking to be a good option. By the end of the fifth beat it was clear that boats would be in difficulty getting back downwind so an early break for lunch was called.
In that fifth heats Jacque and Eric took chalked up a clean sweep against Peter and Paul, Lewis and Russell took the beat against Martin and Deano, and Alex won the beat against Shaun and Thomas. Martin and Deano made the brave decision to rig their spinnaker, and took the run with a fine exhibition of downwind speed! In the sixth heats Peter and Paul won both boards against Shaun and Thomas. Crucially, also in the sixth Graham and Ray beat Martin and Deano both ways.
By the seventh heats there was only one point between Graham and Ray, and Jacque and Eric. Graham and Ray had a sail-over owing to his opponent suffering gear failure, and although Jacque and Eric won the beat against Shaun she lost the run, making Graham and Ray worthy winners of the 2020 Met & Southern Champions!
In contrast to the gales of January and February, it was an enjoyable day’s sailing. Remarkably there were no recalls or re-sails! There were a couple of gear failures, Shaun and Thomas suffering a snapped main boom just before the first race, and Alex’s excellent new vane gear deciding to glitch in the sixth race. But there were smiles all round, and chocolate for prizes, all making for a memorable day’s sailing.
Our next vane racing is for A’s, scheduled for Sunday, March the 29th. Look forward to seeing you all there!
Mervyn
