I’m not a great conspiracy theorist but when 3 boats ahead of us retire and another 3 conspire to let us through on a very one-sided beat and we end up in scribe position I begin to wonder.

In line with recent races there was virtually no wind at the start and what little there was seemed to be coming from random directions.  At least the fleet was on good behaviour as 13 boats set off on a “beat” to Stans having avoided a “General”.  Steve and Lisa rounded first and somehow Mike and I courtesy of the wind (I use the term loosely) Gods managed to sneak round in second, just ahead of Pete and Jo. 

The run down to Ellis Jones was excruciating and places at the front of the fleet were swapped with Mr and Mrs Allam finally taking the lead just as we rounded.  So how to “beat” to Latch? Who even knew where it was?

At least the wind had increased to something which meant we were both sitting on the same side of the boat.  Whilst Pete and Jo sailed off into the distance, we “rolled the dice” as suggested by Crispin in the previous Wednesday’s race report and tried the Brownsea side of the course.  Most of the fleet took a different route and rounded Latch ahead of us. 

We rounded Latch close to the back of the fleet.  Well at least we wouldn’t have to get creative at the keyboard.  Little did I know about the conspiracy that had been hatched by the rest of the fleet.  We enjoyed a gentle run, no drama or place changing back to Nord Homes where the fleet’s plan started to unfold.  We just squeezed inside Chris and Nadia (they’ve never let me do that before, I should had suspected something) and slowly moved ahead.  Then we noticed that two of the group of leading boats had retired, leaving Mervyn and Ralph to do battle with Steve and Lisa, no worries we were still in 5^th.  I could rely on and Mike C and Ian L to be honest.  Having been out sailed by the rest of the fleet on the previous beat we kept to the right and rounded Latch for the second time in 3^rd just ahead of Ian and Mike L.  On the run back to Nord Homes Ian and Mike L and Mike C and Dave politely stayed behind.  Mike L nearly gave plot away after the race by saying he couldn’t understand how we stayed ahead, sailing more or less on a dead run whilst they were planning on a 3-sail reach.

So that’s it.  A much better race than I expected at the start.  Congrats to Steve and Lisa who took first in a very tight finish from Mervyn and Ralph a gnat's whisker behind.

Now for the most important part of the report.  A little bird told me after the race that someone left their boat without permission.  I won’t name names but to protect the innocent I understand Mr Whitworth and Mr Scroggie will be checking their toe-strap fastenings before the Nationals.  I think we know which trophy is coming their way (again).

Results

1. 4019     Steve R & Lisa
2. 4111     Mervyn & Ralph
3. 3936     Ian Z & Mike B
4. 4115     Ian L & Michael
5. 4027     Mike C & Dave
6. 4025     Chris & Nadia
7. 3821     Patrick & Aly
8. 4119     Tim & Edith
9. 3966     Richard L & Alan