The first race on Sunday took advantage of lighter winds around 10 knots, to sail a figure-of-eight course which included the middle segment of this large and scenic lake. Unfortunately for Obnoxious (Thomas Schild), her race was over shortly after the start when she capsized and needed some assistance from the committee boat to be righted. That left Chili (Ben and Anna Woolnough) and Tradewind (Allan Rees and Steve Lake) to chase the speedy Taipan Knockout (Rob Currall) around the course. They finished in that order, but on corrected times Chili was the winner, both on Yardstick and Performance Handicap.
Above: A nice red spinnaker makes Tradewind both faster and more colourful
No such problem for Obnoxious in the second race, a conventional triangle-and-sausage course which was shortened by race management as the wind eased. She had an excellent tussle with Chili whose skipper Ben seemed to make some “interesting” tactical choices in the absence of his regular crew Anna. Only at the last mark did Chili slip past. Meantime the majestic Tradewind was mastering her spinnaker to make good time at the rear of the field, and Knockout was flying round in the lead, wondering what more she has to do to beat the others on corrected time.
Summary results were:
Race 1 on Yardstick: (1) Chili (2) Tradewind (3) Knockout
Race 1 on Performance Handicap: (1) Chili (2) Knockout (3) Tradewind
Race 2 on Yardstick: (1) Tradewind (2) Chili (3) Knockout
Race 2 on Performance Handicap: (1) Tradewind (2) Knockout (3) Chili
Next racing day, the last before the Christmas break, will be Sunday 17 December. A free sausage will be presented to any sailor who completes the course in a Santa Hat without having it blow off.
