Catapult returned to real sea sailing at Bridlington, August 23rd-25th, and again joining the Royal Yorkshire SC Bank Holiday Regatta. A good fleet saw close racing (three helms scoring two or more wins across the nine races, and five getting at least a first or second, see race reports below.) Winds varied from wafting breezes shifting 180' on Saturday, to fresh trapezing on Monday, but every day could complete three scheduled races.

  The Club set port-rounding triangular courses each time (suiting Catapult) and the wind changes and the tides meant a great variety of conditions.

   In Race one, the light NE winds and tide caught much of the fleet by surprise, so that only Gareth, John and Alastair competed for the starboard pin, while some others took many minutes to gain the start line. Gareth and John moved gradually away over the long beat against the tide and Stuart made a good upwind gain to catch Alastair.

   As the boats approached the third leg of the slow lap, the wind changed 180°, to turn the run into a beat, a short port and long starboard tack. John and Gareth held on to their lead to the (new) top mark, but turning downwind (now with the tide) they found their careful work undone as the whole fleet bunched up to relentlessly catch them, Stuart coming out of the pack successfully for the lead.

   On the second lap, Gareth slowly caught Stuart for the win, and Alastair gained by tacking early onto starboard (correctly assessing that the mark could be laid with only a short final port board) to take third from John T.

(Below: Close fleet racing downwind, Race 4, see report below.)

 

 

 
   In Race two, with the wind increasing a little and the tide slackening, Alastair held on to the starboard pin end to take the start, and extended a lead over the first lap. Gareth came up steadily to capture the lead which he extended until an early tack upwind lifted Alastair to close up a few metres behind him, held to the end. Behind, the fleet spread widely to cover two legs of the three lap course, John Terry pulling out to take third.

   Race three, following back-to-back, found the wind strength falling back to be patchy in strength and still swinging. A ruthless starboard-end battle for the start saw George pushed onto the Committee boat, and Alastair catch John T to lead. Again, Gareth gradually nullified this, to take a third win, with Alastair close behind. The fleet slowed over a long downwind leg against the tide, so one lap finished the day, with John T again coming out of the fleet for third.

(Below: Race 4 battle, as Gareth (foreground) and John Terry swing downwind)

  Sunday brought the forecasted light winds, with the boats struggling to reach the start out through the small surf, but it steadied enough in the north east to allow racing.  In Race Four Alastair led John T from a tight start but could not hold John back, who stretched out over the two slow laps for the win, while Alastair could not hold off Gareth and Stuart coming up over the slow lap at slack water, but luffed George enough as he gained in the final downwind legs to defend fourth.

  For Race five, Stuart successfully picked the port end advantage as the breeze swung again, just crossing the starboard fleet. Alastair and Syd held their starboard tack out to the left down the shore (while the others followed Stuart out to the right) and they found a good gain.  Alastair rounded with Stuart and then Syd close behind; Stuart took back the lead on the next beat, and successfully held off Gareth coming steadily through. Behind, Alastair took advantage of a luffing match between George and John T to snatch back third.

  Race six followed back to back and the wind swung further to give a marked port end advantage, with Stuart and John T commiting early to that end. Stuart and John T battled with Gareth as he came up through the fleet, until on the second long beat John T tacked immediately on the windshift with a big gain, holding this when the wind shifted back to lift him to the mark, giving a lead held to the finish.  Stuart defended second, but could not prevent Gareth pushing him back to third.

(Below: Stuart tacks to chase and catch Gareth, Race 5)

  On Monday morning the wind was firmly in the SW, where it was predicted to blow hard with rain, but this held off, leaving a light-moderate good racing breeze, for a set of quick back-to-back races.

In Race 7 Stuart and John T saw the skewed start line,and although Alastair came down the line on starboard to force them below him (gaining little) they crossed ahead of the starboard pack. Alastair followed them on a long port board to the right. Knowing that the second, third and fourth places were open to competition on the day, they watched each other until they overstood the mark, and then saw the boats on the left had already gained a big advantage.

  Out on the left meanwhile, Gareth built an early lead. Syd Gage had shadowed Gareth across the line in one of his typical high-speed starts, and Syd found the boat-speed to stay just behind him around the course upwind and downwind, to earn a close second place, with George Evans (urging Syd on) coming in for third.

  In Race 8  John Terry succeeded in some vigorous tactical starting at the starboard pin, pushing Alastair up onto the Committee boat, and then just catching Stuart who was again trying a lone port end start. The wind had picked up enough for John and Gareth to trapeze regularly, and they pulled away, with George again welcoming the fresher conditions, pushing up to windward and holding third ahead of Stuart.

 In Race 9 Stuart was again successful with his lone port-end start, chased by Alastair winning the starboard pin. Again Gareth and John T on trapeze gained boat speed, to catch them and gradually move away (Gareth holding to the lead to the end) leaving a battle behind for third. Stuart held  on for the place, until George gained again upwind, and picked up a good lift off on the right for the third. Stuart and Alastair urged every yard surfing together across  the swell from the N.East, with Stuart successfully defending fourth .

Write-up: Alastair and Syd

                                                               RESULTS

Rank	SailNo	HelmName	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Total	Nett
1	91	gareth ede	(2.0)	1.0	1.0	(2.0)	2.0	2.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	13.0	9.0
2	533	john terry	(4.0)	3.0	3.0	1.0	(5.0)	1.0	4.0	2.0	2.0	25.0	16.0
3	531	stuart ede	1.0	(5.0)	4.0	3.0	1.0	3.0	(5.0)	4.0	4.0	30.0	20.0
4	524	alastair forrest	3.0	2.0	2.0	4.0	3.0	4.0	(6.0)	(6.0)	5.0	35.0	23.0
5	510	george evans	(7.0)	6.0	(7.0)	5.0	4.0	6.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	44.0	30.0
6	506	syd gage	5.0	4.0	5.0	(6.0)	(6.0)	5.0	2.0	5.0	6.0	44.0	32.0
7	297	chris phillps	6.0	(8.0)	(8.0)	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	64.0	48.0
8	17	cliff antill	8.0	7.0	6.0	(10.0 DNC)	(10.0 DNC)	10.0 DNC	10.0 DNC	10.0 DNC	10.0 DNC	81.0	61.0
9	244	damien cooney	(10.0 DNF)	(10.0 DNF)	9.0	8.0	8.0	8.0	10.0 DNC	10.0 DNC	10.0 DNC	83.0	63.

   (Below: Event winner Gareth Ede rounds the top mark in Race 6 chasing John Terry.)