Salcombe Yacht Club Winter Series 2018 – Race 1

Published 12:18 on 30 Oct 2018

Saturday 27^th October saw the start of the Salcombe Yacht Club Winter Series.  Woolly hats and sunglasses were essential wear on a chilly bluebird day.  Despite the low Spring tide, Race Officer Simon Ballantine was able to set a long first beat into a brisk nor’easter toward Gerston.

Eleven Solos came to the line, and with a strong ebb tide, the fleet was split between the Salcombe and East Portlemouth shore.  Charlie Blazeby made the best start from the Salcombe shore, which encouraged those on the Portlemouth side, led by Simon Dobson to bank their losses and cross over.

After much mixing in the main anchorage, Ed Stephens headed out into the tide to find more wind, followed by Roger Guess and David Greening, who drew out a considerable gap by the Gerston turning mark.  With little room between the mark and the mud banks, Guess who had driven his way through to the lead, failed to make the bear off, allowing Stephens to gybe into first place.

Stephens, Greening and Guess returned into the harbour in formation, with Stephens taking the lead downwind and Guess upwind, however a grounding by Guess on what turned out to be the penultimate lap, allowed Greening and Stephens through, with Stephens eventually taking the win by a half of a boat length after the race was shortened in a rising breeze.

Seventeen boats made up the Handicap fleet including five Phantoms, four Salcombe Yawls; a group of Laser 4.7s and a plethora of other boats compete for the second start of the day. 

Chris Cleaves initially led the Phantoms and Andrew and Izzy Wood the Salcombe Yawls, however the theoretically slower Firefly of Peter Cook and Janet Exelby held onto the faster boats at Gerston sufficiently to earn the corrected time victory, while the Yawl of Stephen Galvin and James Smith came through strongly in the stiffening breeze; Cleaves eventually forfeited 3^rd place to Alistair Morley, following a poorly executed mark rounding, something that Cleaves will be able to practice when he commences retirement later this week …

Solos

1st          5769                       Ed Stephens      

2nd        5792                       David Greening

3rd         5799                       Roger Guess      

Handicap

1st          Firefly 3127         Peter Cook and Janet Exelby      

2nd        Yawl 99                 Stephen Galvin and James Smith             

3rd         Phantom 1459    Alistair Morley                

Written By David Greening

Photographs by Charlie and Helen Lloyd