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Winter Series : Race 2 Solo Report

Published 20:04 on 13 Nov 2023

For your correspondent Salcombe Yacht Club Winter Series Race 2 for Solos was best forgotten, in fact if it were not for the need for a race report, the Race Results page of the Salcombe Yacht Club website would have been left unattended until better results could be filed, however having been shamed by the Handicap correspondent, who found much to say about an inconsequential race, but had a far more successful day than the Solo correspondent, a Solo report had to be compiled.

Twelve Solo sailors came to the line in drifting conditions. A flood tide was building, and any wind that there was came out of the Easterly quadrant. The wind at Prawle Point was reading 1mph and the flag on Salcombe Church was hanging vertical. With a course set by Geoff Gilson up harbour to Crossways it was a challenge to start on the non-course side of the starting line. Something that class captain Adrian Griffin failed to achieve to the sound of the Individual Recall signal and chose to ignore.

The early front runners at the first mark were Chris Cleaves, Simon Dobson, David Greening and James Greenhill, with Bill Jago and Mike Hodges closing in. This group sought to get out of the tide as soon as possible, and with much tactical gybing while fighting to secure inside berth on the Portlemouth shore.

The infighting allowed Chris Cleaves to be first to cross the Ferry landing, which secured him sufficient clean air to pull away from the pursuing pack. And he was around the leeward Blackstone mark, storming back with the tide, while the rest of the fleet was floundering off Biddle Head.

By this stage the back of the fleet ran in against the tide on a North Easterly gust, Simon Dobson and James Greenhill held onto second and third places, while Bill Jago and David Greening were rolled by the pack, with Gavin Stevens securing forth place from Mike Hodges.