The final event in the HD Sails South Eastern Series was held at Broadwater SC on Saturday 10th October. Nearly 20 boats turned up to face blustery conditions with a Westerly Wind varying between 10 and 23 knots. The day was warm and sunny, a great October day for a sail.
The Westerly wind meant the wind crossing the water across the narrow angle and caused some trickiness for the race team in setting a course as too close to the western shore would be very much in the lee. As it was the wind continued to be shifty and didn't settle for the whole day.
The programme was for four races of approximately 40 minutes duration for the leaders, back to back, and then in for a tea and beers from a local sponsor.
The races got under way with the first race led from start to finish by Mark Addison, from Upper Thames, followed by Nick Mason and Jeremy Deacon (the first of the home club sailors). There was some drop outs due to involuntary swims as the wind continued to shift including the class treasurer testing the new Ovington drop floor boat.
The course was tweaked for race 2 to deliver better beats and involved a leeward mark behind an island which the wind funnelled past. Mark Addingham led again with Alex Fastnedge 2nd and Jeremy Deacon 3rd. This race proved tighter with Bill Taylor and Justin Philipps in the mix and keeping competition going.
The new course proved to work for the conditions and we went straight into Race 3. AT the first Mark it was Mark Addison, Jeremy Deacon, Justin Philipps and Alex Fastnedge fighting it out and this group pulled away to finish with Mark Addingham, Jeremy Deacon, Alex Fastnendge and Justin Philipps in that order.
By Race 4, the fleet had shrunk to nearly half with a high attrition rate due to the big gusts. A similar group led for most of the race with Nick Mason recovering to steal 4th Place and complete and excellent days racing.
Many thanks to Broadwater SC who delivered a great, if challenging, days Sailing, made everyone feel very welcome. The event was good value with the entry fee including bacon butty & coffee before racing and a post sailing lunch with a beer.
Open Meeting:
1st Mark Addison Upper Thames SC
2nd Alex Fastnedge Cotswold Sc
3rd Jeremy Deacon Broadwater SC
4th Nick MAson Emsworth Slipper SC
5th Justin Philipps Frensham Pond Sc
South East Series: (Best 4 Events to count)
1st Jeremy Deacon Broadwater SC
2nd Justin Philipps Frensham Pond Sc
3rd Dave Patrick Broadwater SC
4th Bill Taylor Creeks SC
For the South East Series, there were over 40 boats who competed at some point in the season with over ten Qualifying. Andrew Stainsby won the spot prize for the lowest placed competitor to qualify for the series.
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