Who would have thought we would be sailing yesterday after the rain during the days before.  It was good to see the sun start to appear, together with a steadier breeze.  Only problem was it was swinging around a bit.

We had 12 sailors champing at the bit for our monthly Handicap Event, and I don’t think too many were disappointed.

Graham Brown set a diagonal course on the west side of the deck, addressing a south westerly breeze.  This suited nearly everyone, as there was an overcast that took the shine off the water.  The course was fairly long, but with the breeze at around 7 knots, the races were pushed through fairly quickly. 

B sails were selected initially, then most sailors went down to C’s as they were more manageable.

We sailed 7 races, and were more or less forced into a course change with the breeze swinging to the south.  Unfortunately this coincided with the sun coming out in all it’s splendour, so it was a little difficult to see the boats until the clouds rolled across again.

We saw some excellent sailing, and I thought nearly everyone came away with a big smile on their face

It is interesting that there is only one first place within the first four final places.  The 1’s were spread right through the fleet.  6^th place and 8^th place each had two firsts.  The first 6 placegetters really sailed well, and deserve those positions, but the result of the day has to be Barry McCarthy’s first 1^st. place in the last race.  He had set himself up for a one lapper, then had to go around again and keep everyone else at bay for another lap.  His first of hopefully many more.

Everyone was a winner yesterday.  The backmarkers were always going to have a struggle against their handicaps – Phil Stevenson had time to make a cup of coffee before starting each of his races, but sailed really well into some good placings.

Terry Hey had a day he would rather forget, so he will be dangerous next week.

So, Phil Hetherington 1^st; Bruce Hilliard 2^nd; and Karen Paterson 3^rd.  Great result.

Geoff Lucas 4^th; Bruce Paterson and Judy Evans tied for 5^th.  Well done to you all.

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