A tough day in the office
A light 5-10kts breeze fluctuating around E-NE greeted the fleet at the platform. Fi and Lisa had laid ‘M’ (did it have a band or not?) between Parkstone Dental and Christopher Head for the first beat. Eventually choosing not to use M and going straight to Chris Head.
The line was set to the right of the platform and was tricky to read given the wind and tidal flow had it turned or not, which end was windier or lighter??!
After a short postponement we were on starboard at the platform end as the start approached. As the gun went we managed to roll round Roberta and John who were infringed by a port boat trying to cross the fleet ‘Toast’
The fleet stretched out from the channel side in a little more wind and maybe an ebb tide still. Think the Linders went round first and headed off in a Baiter direction.
We gybed and headed left hoping for the wind to fill in that was progressing down the harbour. At 90 degree to the rhumb line and boats progressing nicely on starboard to Baiter, it might have been a bad decision.
It did fill in but the gaggle of boats club side had a nice line and were progressing well. The fleet started to split and a half dozen boats headed for the channel in breeze and hoping for the flood tide, had it/ was it yet to change?
Looking back Roberta and John were toast, practically last around the first mark.
Pete and Jo led round Ro-Ro, so up to Hamish race mark and back a couple of times before heading for the finish.
A number of boats headed right to get over the sand in the flood tide and we tacked left to get some clear air after rounding 5th.
The pressure seemed to fill in from the left and we pulled forward from the fleet now on starboard tack. The header onto port put us on the inside of the running track and just on the inside of the Linders, McLemens and Allams.
Woohoo, popped out first at Hamish race mark with the conveyor belt really starting to flood. We gybed back into the channel toward Brownsea, back down to Ro-Ro. The front bunch headed left downwind in the channel on maybe on a broad reachy direction to keep the momentum up and/ or protecting their wind from the attack behind.
As ever the elastic between boats is only stretched not broken, the fleet was nose to tail at the leeward Ro-Ro mark.
Take two, the leaders went right and headed toward Brownsea, others tacking off for alternatives and clear air.
Up the beat there was a 20-25 degree left shift and a rib sitting on Ro-Ro. Shortened course meant it was a sprint to the line. Was it wind or was it tidal lee-bow from the channel that caused the lift?
We sniggled out from underneath Pete ‘n Jo after our poor rounding and tacked first for the line.
A few boats then came in higher from the left, wind/tide?, and our confrontation half way back became a race to get to the boats coming in from the left.
It looked a little ominous and Ian/Mike seemed to be taking the bullet.
Er, perhaps not, the boat most left was looking pretty good and eventually came in with a few boat lengths lead! Nice work!
Ian/Mike rolled around the pin being pressured from Steve & Simon, now in 2nd, pressuring them into hitting the mark and retiring because of it.
Four boats within about three boat lengths shows a tricky race .
Did I mention Roberta and John? Er, champagne toast not burnt, bloody well sailed, great win!
Results
- 4016 Roberta & John
- 4019 Steve & Simon
- 4114 Richard & Jack
- 4115 Ian & Kim
- 3793 Pete & Jo
- 3966 Richard & Alan
- 4125 David & Adrian
- 4036 Dick & Pete
- 3934 Grahame & David
- 3936 Andrew & Martin
- 3821 Patrick & William
- 3901 Peter & Yung
- 4088 Geof & Alan(?)
- 4027 Mike & David
- 3974 Ann & John
RTD 3922 Ian & Mike
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