Nine Wanderers took to the water at Hedgecourt Lake for the first open meeting of the season.   The conditions were tricky to say the least, with a light changeable zephyr which slowly died throughout the day and gave a whole new meaning to the phrase “fickle breezes”.   Added to that, the depth of water in the lake seemed to be even less than in previous years, and the incautiously lowered centreboard, or even rudder on occasions, was grabbed by the relentless mud.

The general direction of the wind was North Westerly, which caused a big headache for Race Officer Mike Thompson and his team.   However, they made the best of the conditions and managed to set a challenging course.   In race 1 Mike Everest, W1551 and David Edwards, W1060 set off in fine style, followed by Mike Powell with Clive Thompson, W878, and Gavin Barr and Mark Skipper, W1282.   David Edwards established a strong lead, only to be overtaken by Gavin and Mark who held on to win.   Mike Powell sailed consistently for 3^rd place.

For race 2 the wind had dropped even further but conditions were still just sailable.   Mike Powell led for the first lap, but ran into a hole near mark 3 allowing the pack to catch up.   Gavin and Mark sailed through to take the lead but Mike Hamilton, W992, sailing with Joanne Shepherd (nee Fagg), took full advantage of a couple of gusts to power through the fleet and overtake Gavin and Mark on the line.   Mike Powell recovered from a close encounter with the mud to claw back to 3^rd.   Chris Partington and Donna Hender, W571, had a good start and came a creditable 4^th.

The start of race 3 was marred by one boat (who shall be nameless) barging down the line without rights and causing a major pile-up.   The barging boat was the only one over the line so there was no general recall.   Only Mike Everest, and Bob Dodds in the CMYC club Wanderer, escaped the mayhem and established a strong lead.   The wind was now very light indeed.   However, Mike Everest extended his lead and held on to win.   Gavin and Mark managed to sail through to 2^nd place, covering Mike Hamilton up the last beat.   Mike Powell, who suffered worst from the start-line foul-up, fought his way up the fleet to a creditable 4^th place, just overtaking Bob Dobbs on the last leg.  

So, a closely contested event with three different winners, and many ding-dong battles through the fleet.    Sailing in light airs sounds easy, but it is anything but!   There will be some aching joints around the Wanderer fleet this week!   Thanks to CMYC for their usual friendly welcome and excellent organisation.  

Overall results:   1^st W1282, Gavin Barr (Whitstable YC), 2^nd W992, Mike Hamilton (Civil Service SA), 3^rd W878, Mike Powell Crawley Mariners YC, 4^th W1551, Mike Everest (CMYC), 5^th W1060, David Edwards (CMYC), 6^th W571, Chris Partington (WYC), 7^th W603, Dave Monk  (CMYC), 8^th CMYC club boat, Bob Dodds (CMYC), 9^th W989, Mark Fagg (WYC).

Gavin Barr