On the Water

Published 18:08 on 4 Dec 2019

On the Water

A very blustery weekend of club racing saw fewer boats out and lots of swimming in the river and harbour!

The Scow river racing saw Graham Fairbrass finishing first of 4 on Saturday with one unable to finish due to sinking! Paul Mecklenburgh took line honours on Sunday but Nigel Burt remains ahead in the Sunday winter series.

In the harbour, Saturday saw forecast wind speeds of 22 gusting 30mph and 17-27mph on Sunday (as recorded by Highcliffe wind anemometer). On Saturday Class 4 was won by Ray New with only 6 out of 11 boats being able to finish. Sunday saw the Finn fleet turn out an impressive 7 boats and Class 4 saw one Aero 7, 4 Laser 4.7's and 3 ladies also an RS300. Both fleets completed 2 races of two laps. Capsizes were plentiful and I can assure you that the gybe mark took some nerve!! Class 5 had one Optimist who stoically completed one lap before the conditions proved too much.

On a safety note - please assess the condition of your boat and your current standard of sailing before launching in these winter races. Remember the Escort boat is there to do just that and you are signing on to race declaring you are up to the conditions on the day! There is no shame in recognising the wind speed is too great for you - that is safe and sensible sailing!

Last updated 06:02 on 22 September 2022