| RACING AT BURGHFIELD S.C. 14TH SEPTEMBER |
Nine Wanderers from seven different sailing clubs as far a field as Derbyshire and Cambridge converged on Burghfield (Reading) for this Open Meeting. The wind was North Easterly force 2 to 3, but with shifts of up to fifty degrees left or right to confuse both competitors and Race Officer Will Hemsley. The islands and shallows of the lake added extra interest! The Wanderers shared the water with the Tasars who were also having an Open Meeting. Ex-Tasar sailor Gavin Barr (and crew Jo Fagg) were clearly suffering from schizo-phrenia as they made a complete mess of the first race. Doug and Glenis Milligan of Carsington are coming into form with their “new” boat W108 “Dougle” (get it?), and got away cleanly in race 1, leading the fleet at the windward mark. Gavin Barr and Jo Fagg, sailing in her first Wanderer Open, almost caught the Milligans before disaster struck. In a series of ill-judged spinnaker gybes, Gavin failed to realise the severity of the wind shifts, which turned reaches into beats at a moment’s notice. The jib becoming detached from its sheet didn’t help much. Doug and Glen won the first race with local sailors Peter and Elva Wallis second, Chris Webb and his crew third and Philip and Jill Meadowcroft fourth. The start of the second race was postponed due to a major windshift just before the start. The Tasars got away cleanly, but thirty seconds before the Wanderer start another massive shift meant that the line could hardly be laid on starboard tack. Gavin and Jo, and the Milligans, quickly tacked on to port, ducked some starboard tack boats and were away. The first race disasters must have acted as a wake-up call. “Thistle” showed superior boat-speed, and Gavin and Jo sailed right of the islands, “banging the corner” and reaching the windward mark ahead of the fleet in two tacks. Half the fleet followed “Thistle” and the other half went left. The Meadowcrofts took a middle route and tacked across between the islands. A good idea but they ended losing ground on both groups. Gavin and Jo went on to win, Jo’s spinnaker handling (first time in a race, with only one hour’s practice ashore) proving faultless. The Milligans were second and Wallis’s third. Race three was largely a repeat of the second race. Gavin and Jo won again, the Milligans second and Wallis’s third having suffered a broach and near capsize at the gybe mark. Chris Webb sailed a canny and consistent series to come fourth overall ahead of Andy and Michael Peter. The minor places were fiercely contested, with close racing and many changes of fortune. Colin and Sally Gilbert showed steadily improving form to finish on equal points with Philip and Jill Meadowcroft who, after a competitive start, did a bit of unintended fishing with the spinnaker in race three! However, they claimed sixth place on countback. Rob Jopling and rookie crew, wife Jane, pipped Alastair Barclay and Dave Pritchard on countback by virtue of a seventh place in the last race. Thanks to Peter and Elva Wallis and to Burghfield S.C. for a great day’s sailing. Overall Results: 1st W1282, Gavin Barr and Joanne Fagg, Whitstable Y.C.; 2nd W108, Doug and Glenis Milligan, Carsington S.C. ; 3rd W893, Peter and Elva Wallis, Burghfield S.C. ; 4th W1057, Chris Webb and crew ; 5th W198, Andy and Michael Peter, Lymington Town S.C. ; 6th W1024, Philip and Jill Meadowcroft, Salcombe Y.C. ; 7th W1163, Colin and Sally Gilbert, Hunt S.C. ; 8th W945 Rob and Jane Jopling, Hunt S.C. ; 9th W1097, Alastair Barclay and Dave Pritchard, Burghfield S.C. |