Catapult TT at Carsington April 9th-10th |
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Home Page Results and Reports Sailing Programme Cruising Tactics and Rules The Boat |
For the fleet's first outing of the 2022 season there were testing
conditions on Day 1. A Force 4 with squalls, and occasional unexpected
lulls, put off a couple of sailors, so only 5 started the M shaped
course with lots of exciting close reaches. The Race Officer kindly
fitted in an extra race over the two scheduled ones in case Day 2's
forecast of light airs meant that a full complement could not be run.
John Terry was first to the windward mark of Race 1 followed by
Gareth Ede, George Evans and Stuart Ede. However he headed for the wrong
wing mark allowing Gareth to take the lead. Mike Gough had a muddled
start and had to play catch up, which he did in style. By Lap 2 he
caught Stuart and by Lap 3 he caught George. Meanwhile Gareth was
drawing ahead of John who in turn had lengthened his lead over the
chasing pack. Stuart overtook George on one of the reaches of the last
lap to narrowly pip him to 4th place.
John was first to the windward mark of Race 2 closely followed by
Gareth, George and Mike. Gareth used his superior downwind performance
to take the lead from John and thereafter stretched his lead
considerably. On the penultimate lap Stuart got past Mike on one of the
exciting reaches. On the final lap Stuart went right up the beat, and
this paid off as he got past George to take 3rd behind Gareth
and John.
Stuart had to abort a port tack start to Race 3 leaving him at the
back of the pack. Gareth was first to the windward mark, but the rest of
the fleet was hard on his heels. John continued to hassle Gareth all the
way round while the two of them increased their lead over the others.
George went left up the second beat while Stuart and Mike hoped that
going right would work for them again. Alas, a header put paid to those
hopes leaving George with a healthy margin to hold onto 3rd place. Mike
had dropped back quite a way on the beat, but he was closing the gap on
Stuart as they approached the finish. However it was not enough to
deprive Stuart of 4th place.
In defiance of the forecast Day 2 offered a sunny Force 2, so the
remaining two races could be run. The fleet headed left up the beat with
Gareth leading the pack. Over the next two laps he developed a
commanding lead, as John also stretched his lead over the rest of the
fleet. On the beat of Lap 2 George used his superior pointing ability to
climb away from Stuart cementing his 3rd place behind Gareth
and John.
A shift in wind direction prompted a change of course that
appeared to favour going right up the beat. That plus a mild port bias
to the start line tempted John and Stuart to attempt a port tack start.
However, they both mistimed their approaches and had to duck Gareth and
George. They persevered up the right for a while until John decided to
tack over. That proved to be the right call, as Stuart found himself
badly headed when he tacked onto what should have been the layline. John
rounded the windward mark close on Gareth's heels, and they stayed
locked in close combat round the rest of the course. At the last
windward mark Gareth got in a bit of a tangle with a Phantom allowing
John to sneak ahead. He kept a nose in front all the way down the last
run, but Gareth rounded tight on the last mark and sneaked between John
and the Committee Boat. While George was safe in 3rd place,
Syd Gage was challenging Stuart for 4th, and Stuart didn't
help himself by stalling his boat by rounding up too much after the gybe
mark. However, he held on over the next three legs to claim 4th
place.
Level rating results
So Gareth got a flying start to his season with five 1st
places, and at the next event he will be flying both the Blue Pennant
and the Yellow Pennant as series leader. However, he can't afford to be
complacent, as John racked up five 2nd places (4 to count in
each case).
Despite carrying a punishing rating several of the very
substantial leads that Gareth built up enabled him to claim 2nd
place on personal handicap ahead of his Dad who counted two wins.
However, George's three wins meant he was awarded the Lilac Pennant as
event winner on handicap and the Magenta Pennant as Handicap Series
leader.
Gareth receiving the well deserved Leader's and Event Winner's Pennants
RESULTS
Personal Handicap results
Level rating results
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