‘In space, no one can hear you scream’ went the tagline for Ridley Scott’s film Alien.
The final Wednesday night Twilight race of 2016 was sailed in a gusty 20 knot breeze from the South West. Your author, Pete Taylor found plenty of space to execute a port tack flyer at the pin end of the start line. Rounding the windward mark in the lead no one heard him scream as he surfed downwind to Mark 26, no other Laser sailors were on the water!
Good ‘ole Stuart Bromidge had been planning to sail and was seen rigging his Radial before the race, but he took a giant leap for Mankind, stepping into the breach at the last minute to cover Luke ‘Missing in Action’ Normington’s crewing slot with Michael Atkinson.
It was a good thing the Safety boats were in operation. The Dart fleet were almost lost en-masse when they failed to interpret their course correctly and (in error) embarked on a second beat to Wych. With the light fading quickly from twilight to complete darkness it was touch and go getting them all back safely to the shore.
Finally, congratulations to all our race winners over the season and thanks to Roger for keeping the scores. I will see you back on the water for more Wednesday night sailing action in April 2017 as our new Clubhouse approaches completion and I finally shake of the shackles of my own DIY building project.
Pete Taylor Jr