Autumn Series: Race 7 - Fast Handicap Report

Published 19:20 on 16 Oct 2023

Once again, on Saturday, the sun was shining down on Salcombe, but there was a notable chill in the air for the penultimate race in the Autumn Series.
 
13 teams arrived at the start: 9 Yawls, a 505, RS400, Albacore, and it was good to see Mark Savage out in his K1 again.

The course 7-3-7-2 ensured the majority of the racing was located at the top end of the harbour, where a more stable breeze would be found. There would, however, be a tricky section in front of the clubhouse to navigate at both the start and finish of the race. Typically, Salcombe in a north-westerly, this area would decide the winners and losers.

John and Frankie Burn in Y170 got off the line quickly, and with the exception of Peter Colclough and Alister Morley in the 505, they led the fleet through the bag for the first leg.
 

They were caught downwind and rounded mark 3 just ahead of Dan Bridger and Steven Galvin in Y159 with Olly Turner and Chris Skelhorn in Y68 also hot on their heels. The front runners battled it out on the second trip to mark 7, and as they returned to the main harbour, the breeze became unpredictable and lacking.

This allowed the chasing fleet to close right up, which, as predicted, resulted in the top four spots being awarded to the boats with the highest PY number, in this case blue fleet yawls.

Final finishing order :-
 
1st Olly Turner and Chris Skelhorn, Y68
2nd Robert Smith and Robin Piggott Y123
3rd Mike Knowles and Nicky Bass, Y15
4th John Smithers and Pete Hughes, Y19

By John Burn

Photos By Lucy Burn