Catapult TT at RYYC, Bridlington
Bank Holiday May 4th-6th
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The Boat
The
2019 racing programme
returned for its real sea
sailing at
Bridlington
for the Nationals on 25th-27th May, but fate intervened.
With the forecast of strong winds for the Sunday, the schedule was
changed to fit three races into the Saturday afternoon, on the
traditional Brid square courses. Ironically racing had to be abandoned
after two races when the wind died away.
Race 1, in a light Force 2 had a tightly bunched start,
with Damien Cooney pushing through at the committee boat end, undeterred
by John Terry's shouts to head up (photo below!). Gareth Ede found himself at the back
of the bunch and tried to tack off behind everybody but made a mess of
it and watched as the fleet left him behind. Once he got going again, to
start at the Committee Boat end in clear air, Gareth found himself
pointing considerably higher than the rest of the fleet led by John.
(Below: Start of Race 1 in gentle breezes: Damien (244)
listens while John (grey hulls) explains that there is no room to
windward of him.) (All photos Syd Gage's on-board camera.)
By the time the fleet reached on a lay line for the mark, Gareth had not
only caught up but was a long way to windward, staying well ahead for
the rest of the two lap race. George Evans rounded next, with John Terry
hard on his heels. Chris Phillips misjudged the strength of the tide and
was swept onto the mark dropping him to the back of the fleet , an omen
for the next lap.
On lap 2 Gareth, George and John could round the windward mark with the
dying breeze, but the rest of the fleet struggled as the wind almost
switched off, and the strong tide required several attempts by Syd Gage
and Stuart Ede to get round the mark, while Mike Gough sailed well past
it to be sure of keeping out of trouble.
Gareth finished so far ahead of
the fleet that despite his severe personal handicap he was able to claim
4th on handicap on top of his line honours. Meanwhile John’s dogged
pursuit of George finally paid off in the last 100m when he pipped
George for second place. Mike took fourth with a comfortable gap over
the rest of the fleet. Damien took the handicap win in this race.
(Right: More evidence: Chris explains that he is
sure he was nowhere near the mark.)
John and Stuart arrived at the line early for the start of Race
2, sailed in a Force 1 breeze. Stuart managed to shut John out
at the committee boat end before having to sail down the line until the
gun went. John had to circle around and in doing so got entangled in his
mainsheet delaying his start. This opened the door for Syd and Gareth to
get a near perfect start, and Gareth was again able to point high to
reach the windward mark first, with Syd hanging onto his coattails with
his Sobstad sail, and Chris not far behind. John had come through into
fourth place.
With the wind dying, progress around the course was agonisingly slow, and
by the time the fleet was on the run the Race Officer shortened the
course to one lap. The bulk of the fleet had closed up, but the order
remained largely the same, except John was able to get past Chris to
claim third place behind Gareth and Syd.
(Below: Start, Race 2, as the wind dies; event winner Gareth
Ede (near camera) readying to go for the line)
Syd’s second in the last race catapulted him into 3rd place overall on 8
points, and he nudged George Evans into 4th place on count-back, while
Gareth claimed the event win with John Terry as runner-up on 5 points.
The personal handicap result was tight with only three points separating
the top 6 sailors. Syd topped the handicap table with 6 points, and
George, Gareth and Mike Gough, in that order, had to be separated by tie
breaks on 7 points
RESULTS
Rank
Helm
R1
R2
Total
1st
Gareth
Ede
1
1
2
2nd
John Terry
2
3
5
3rd
Syd Gage
6
2
8
4th
George Evans
3
5
8
5th
Mike Gough
4
6
10
6th
Chris Phillips
7
4
11
7th
Stuart Ede
5
7
12
8th
Damien Cooney
8
8
16
HANDICAP RESULTS
| Rank | Helm |
R1 |
R2 |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Syd Gage | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 2nd | George Evans | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| 3rd | Gareth Ede | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 4th | Mike Gough | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 5th | Chris Phillips | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| 6th | Damien Cooney | 1 | 8 | 9 |
| 7th | John Terry | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| 8th | Stuart Ede | 8 | 7 | 15 |