Winter had arrived with an air temperature of 5 degrees at 09:00. There was a stiff northwesterly and 7 hardy souls were on the startline. Course was start near Dunes, Mill Rythe to port, Sandy to port, inflatable near Runway to starboard, Dunes to starboard and through gate. The start of 7 starters was competitive and wind force 4, with force 5 gusts. Nick Rawlings pointed highest, with Tim Dickinson in close quarter and Greg Swift in close quarters. At Mill Rythe only a few boatlengths separated the three, with Chris Powles leading the chasing pack. Tim and Nick stayed close together and were first and second at Sandy. Then a great reach to the inflatable and run to Dunes. Tim led from Nick, with Greg now on their transoms. On the long beat to Mill Rythe the three leaders remained close and then running side by side to Sandy. At Sandy, Tim led and Greg had got just inside Nick. After another great reach, at the inflatable, Tim led from Greg and Nick. The three leaders remained close together on the run to Dunes, with Nick just getting inside Greg. At the finish the order was Tim, Nick, Greg and Chris in 4th

Sunday morning, torrential rain and Chimet showing 30 knt gusts did not look encouraging . However on arrival at the club the sun was out and a course was setwith a short postponement so sailing was on. The Race Officer had set a trapezoid course N Pilsey Smithy SW Pilsey Sandy 3 rounds. This had the advantage of being in relative shelter from the blustery SW wind and with NO GYBES. Many thanks Roger though this was not popular with some spectators on the balcony who were looking forward to a bit of blood being spilled before the morning was out. The start was club line East and Andrew Vovsey and Robin Gadd up to windward were in the lead at N Pilsey followed by Graham Hughes and Nick Rawlings. I took up the position of back marker. The first beat to Smythy was governed by the flood tide and the only way was to get across the channel out of the tide and then tack for Smithy. Robin decided otherwise taking the scenic route in the middle of the channel and so took over as back marker but got back his place by tacking early for Sandy on the leg from SW Pilsey. Meanwhile Andrew was still leading but Nick was slowly catching up. Everything proceeded as normal until the second close reach to Sandy when Robin decided to see how close he could get his mast to the horizontal in the gusts without actually capsizing. Being just behind him this was at first amusing and then quite alarming as being among the moorings there was not much room to take avoiding action. However the normal laws of physics seem to have been suspended and Robin managed to remain upright. I never knew you could bend the upper torso back so far that your head could almost touch the centre board. Most impressive Robin. On the next leg back to N Pilsey Robin managed to sail over the top of me so that is how it remained at the finish. Meanwhile Nick got by Andrew to win and Graham was third. Thanks to Roger Palmer and his team. As for the second race see last week.

A brisk westerly deterred all but 8 boats from turning out. At the start everyone wanted to bunch at the committee boat end and this combined with a tide pushing us over the lins resulted in a number of individual recalls. Despite race officer Tim extending his vocal cords to the maximum only two went back Robin and myself. As a result i was well last up the first beat to swp. It seemed to be getting quite windy a feeling confirmed by seeing a Solo upside down This turned out to be Robin. He clearly was not having a good day. At channel i found two more Solos on their side. Can it be that windy ? I decided to wear round. Next Freddie Brooks. and then thorney which was a dead run. Paul Cutbill meantime had annoylingly got his boat upright much too quickly and was catching me up.I recaled all that Steve Cockerill stuff about sailing by the lee across the face of the waves but theory is one thing and practice quite another and so I had to do two gybes getting to Thorney . This not only let Paul by but meant i had to gybe TWICE. After a few heart stopping moment i rounded just behind Paul and then it was just a slog upwind to the gate where Tim was finishing us after 1 round a decision with which i heartily agreed. Meantime in a completely different race at the front NickRawlings finished in front of Ian Swann who had not gone back and so was OCS and Greg Swift just got in front of Andrew Vovsey who was third. Paul was another naughty boy getting an OCS so i was fourth. I do not know what happened in the second race as i by that time i was having a shower but I think Nick won AGAIN. Many thanks to Tim and his race team for an " enjoyable" morning sailing

In exact contrast to saturday there was lots of sun and not much wind so after a 1 hour postponement 15 Solos set off for a triangle sausage course over pilsey. The wind was light SSE and the tide was starting to flood.so with a short line and a pin end bias the start was a bit of a scrum. Nick Rawlings got clean away and was comfortably ahead at the windward mark . Matt coleman just sqeezed round second folowed by myself and a whole bunch of boats. Nick and Matt had extended their lead by the bottom mark. Behind me was Alex Butler and alot of raised voices behind him. The second beat the wind came and went. Robin Gadd kept on appearing only to diaappear again. At the windward mark Alex Butler and Chris Powlis were ahead of me with some boats close behind. On the run the main challenge was keeping the boom out and stopping other boats creeping past. I seemed to fail on both counts. There was a short beat to the finish where the medium handicap joined in and added some vocal colour to the race. In the end Nick won comfortably from Matt with Alex third. As he is a new boy to the fleet I have written the report for him.but no such favours for Matt who was third in race 2 !

We had 14 boats out for the final pennant , also the Autumn Trophy. Conditions for Saturday were warm but cloudy and with a healthy dollop of wind ; sufficient for the race team to want to run us inside the harbour on the ebb tide. First race was won by Nick Bonner with Nick Peters in 2 and Nick Rawlings floated past Paul Childs for third on the final run.. Second race saw Nick Fuller get away whilst Nick Peters managed to hit the windward mark and Nick R. After his 1080 degrees he was able to introduce himself to a whole bunch of new mates.. Meanwhile up front the wind had got up a lot and there was some serious gybin’ going on at the next mark with Paul and Nick B biting the dust. This left Nicks Fuller and Rawlings at the front however Paul got had now got going and stormed up the fleet. At the finish it was Nick F , Paul and Nick R. and those three shared the lead overnight with Nick P deciding on a lie in on Sunday. For Sunday the conditions were similar so we stayed inside again. After an hour’s postponement ( to wait for a bit more water and a promised moderation in wind strength ) we got going into a big flood tide. The obvious tactic would be a Committee Boat start followed by an immediate tack onto port. Right? Actually Wrong! as James Gaskell went for the other end and port tacked the fleet! Nick Bonner and Paul Childs led away with James , Nick F and Paul Cutbill in hot pursuit. James declined the gybe and at the finish it was Paul , then Nick B , with Nick R squeezing past other Paul followed by other Nick. All clear at the back there? Good , I’ll carry on then. Bit less wind and a bit less tide for the last race. Nick F took full advantage to lead at the lee mark from Nick R with Paul Childs and Nick B following. Nick F stopped to free some weed and fell out of his boat, whilst Paul got past Nick R. So at the finish it was Paul for the second time followed by Nicks R and B. This left Paul the worthy winner overall , followed by Nicks three , and then the other Paul!

The start was postponed 1 hour due to lack of wind. The first boats started in 5 knots of wind and we started in similar conditions. Following a very short beat to SW Pilsey, we had a slow drift down to Channel against the tide. Nick Rawlings took an early lead, followed closely by Nick Bonner, Robin Gadd and David Steel. The wind started to increase slightly for the beat back to Freddie Brooks, followed by a slow downwind leg to Astra and Park. The apparent wind speed for the beat/fetch back to Dunes had increased considerably, particularly with the ebb tide assisting us. We could by now see the faster boats planing at speed down to Park, having started in stronger winds. After short legs to Gardner and Sandy, we again sailed downwind against the tide to Channel, followed by a beat back to Freddie and a further return to Channel, where the first boats crossed the moving finish line. Combined with the upwind/downwind spinnaker legs, the increasing wind strength played heavily into the hands of the faster boats, who not surprisingly took the top places. Nick B and Nick R must have finished very close together across the moving finish line, but Nick B edged it, with David further back in third.

A good fleet of 13 Solos made their way out to the start for a windy Saturday. There was enough wind to keep the whole club in the harbour. There was a short delay whilst the race team discovered that all the dan buoys now had short chains on them, and accordingly had no intention of staying in the same place if the water was deeper than said chain. Having matched the water depth to the chain length we all started off on a windy upwind from vicinity Copyhold in the direction of the club. Having found a windward mark in the expected place guys with better eyesight than mine spotted another mark by Treloar. This coupled with an absence of a gybe mark in the north prompted a charge out to sea. Nick Peters got there first from Nick Bonner, Greg Swift and Nick R. Nick B threw it in on the run ( back from the gybe mark of course ) and Nick R went off to the usual mark 3 only to discover that today it was mark 4. So Nick P won that one from Tim Polglase and Greg. Having turned out that I did not know where any of the marks were I was very grateful for 4th... The second race was far more straightforward since we now knew where all the marks were , Nick and Tim again took 1 and 2 and Leo Dixon got third. A slightly reduced fleet turned up for an equally windy Sunday. Tim Dickinson and Nick Bonner flew up the first beat to almost get first and second but contrived to collide with each other promoting a rather surprised Tim P and Nick P.. Nick P ground past Tim and we finished in that order with Alec Powell in third. Last race , Tim P was the only one of us to spot the start and was accordingly handed a good lead on a plate. However he managed to find the stop button and let Nick R catch up on the broad reach back down the harbour and we finished like that with Alec again third. So Nick P won with 3 bullets and Tim was second with 4 seconds. Next is Pwhelli and with any luck those of us going have got all the capsizes , collisions , timing and navigation problems out of the system.

Near perfect sailing conditions greeted the 10 Solo sailors on Sunday morning, with a 10-12 knot Southerly breeze and the tail end of a strong flood tide. Following a prompt start near Copyhold, the fleet split each side of the main channel, coming back together on the approach to Calvert, where Tim Polglase took an early lead, closely followed by Jerome Bakker and David Steel. These positions didn’t change, although Tim’s lead increased as the race progressed. David Moseley finished 4th and Bill Shephard 5th. Nick Rawlings kept the 5 Solo sailors on their toes for Race 2 by setting a different course and combining all the classes in a single start. Another cleverly constructed triangular course, this time down to the wing mark at Easthead and leeward mark at Astra. Jerome led at the East Head Spit windward mark, closely followed by David Steel with Tim, Neil and David not far behind. The Fireballs and other spinnaker boats effortlessly flew past us on the first reach. After a few short tacks, Tim and Neil spotted that the next leg was actually a fetch to the Gate and took 2nd and 3rd positions which they both held until the end, whilst Jerome comfortably held on to 1st place, with David & David completing the positions. Thanks to Nick for setting straightforward courses and getting us off to prompt starts so that we still had the rest of Sunday to do other things (DIY, gardening etc…).

Another grey day but a decent westerly Force 3-4 tempted 10 boats to the line. Our start was just after low water and very close to Pilsey Sands and the first mark was Inf passed Fishery The fleet split evenly half going across to the Winner and half along Pilsey. The advantage appeared marginal either way but this made little difference to Nick Rawlings who went off at full throttle into the distance along the Pilsey side. I followed him at a respectful distance and just got round Fishery second.A short burst up to NW Pilsey and back to Gardner and then a run to John Dory. Nick was now a dot in the distance but behind the chasing pack seemed to get a bit closer as they always seem to do. A gybe at John Dory and then a short leg to the gate which could not quite be fetched on Port. Often at this stage I forget all about the gate but in this case it was hard to miss with a looming bit of Pilsey Sands making a tack imperative. Having negotiated the gate and back on Port everything seemed pretty under control. Andrew Vovsey was now leading the pack who had settled in an orderley line behind me . all I had to do was keep between them and the Windward mark.Then I run aground. A hurried tack expecting Andrew to have to do the same but no he sails serenely on. Next a loud bang and the boom jumps up in the air The strop of the front mainsheet block had broken. Now it is possible to pull in a Solo mainsail with 2.1 purchase but its not something you should try at home. By pulling the traveller up to windward I managed to get the boat to go up wind and found that only Andrew and Barry had got by at the windward Inf. By now it was quite windy and the reach to Pilsy was exhilarating. Barry being a true gentleman let me through. Then it was all down wind to the finish apart from the short hitch from John Dory. At the finish line a bit of entertainment was provided courtesy of a Fireball. I dont usually gloat at other peoples mishaps on the water having had enough of them myself but seeing a Fireball on its side hard on the pin end mark with two Solo sailors swimming around it was just too much to resist. A sort of poetic justice I thought. There was a second race but the vote was LEAVE 9 REMAIN 1 so Nick did a lap of honour by himself. Well it is called a SOLO.

Heavy grey skies with looming thunder clouds and distant lightening greeted sailors for the June sprints and had several experienced helms chewing the prospect of a direct lightening hit. Further discussions followed about whether carbon masts would make this easier or just messier. Winds variable from little to strong and for some or part of all races. Eight boats eventually made it out and enjoyed one of the best forms of racing, sprinting. Craig Williamson set the pace from the first race and sailed strongly throughout winning by 1 whisker. Nick Rawlings also consistently at the front end and showing good speed especially in stronger stuff. Behind in the chasing pack were David Steel, Al Powel, Neil Davidson and Matt Coleman with Matt C making it into 3rd by another whisker. Start lines, race and committee boats organisation given the somewhat challenging conditions were great- thanks all.

Start at Stocker, finish at Mill Rythe. Must be the shortest distance race of the season, but it still took some time. At the start the line got longer and longer during the count down. Eventually Mid winner Buoy was seen to steam past it. Try again with a longer anchor chain. Off at last in a light northerly breeze with the tide ebbing. Starting on starboard it seemed one could get most of the way to MR, but it soon became apparent that each time boats putting a port hitch in they came out best. Trevor C was the first to gain by this method at established a great lead. However Trev did not continue this tactic while Nick R and Barry B got the message. However, not noticed by this pair, Graham Hughes and James Gaskell sneaked across to the Mengeham shore. Eventually these four boats arrived at MR at the same time. The two from the Mengeham side had to approach the mark on port. Graham just got the better of Nick, while Barry blocked James on his third attempt. it was Trevor that then made the third spot.

Race 2, the wind was WSW 10 to 15 knots with an incoming neap tide. How the Solo sailors had chuckled in race 1 when the fast fleet had a general recall and went to the back of the queue. Race 2 and it was the 9 Solo sailors who found themselves on the naughty step. With first mark being Dunes, most of the fleet decided on a long starboard leg to East Head. Greg and Robin chose to tack off towards Pilsey sands. When the two groups came together near East Head spit, Greg just crossed Nick Peters, with Nick Rawlings and Nick Bonner in close attendance. Much touching of the bottom occurred as everyone tacked into the shallows and less tide. At Dunes Nick P led from Nick R, Greg and Nick Bonner. Positions stayed close on the reach to Gardner and the tricky beat to the Sandy ’Bermuda Triangle’. Nick P and Nick R opened up a lead from Greg and Nick B on reach to N Pilsey. Reach to Freddie B where Nick P and Nick R continued to jostle, Greg just in front of Nick B. Run to Thorney and all except Nick B when to south of the bank. Nick B ran out of water and not sure how to get out of his position retired. Sandy Briggs broke his boom and retired also. On the short but challenging beat to the finish Nick P maintained a 4 boat length lead to the finish for the win with Greg in 3rd position, followed by Robin. The hardest part of the day was the long beat home in a freshening wind against the building tide.

The sun was out but the northerly wind 15 Knts + had a distinct chill to it. Being low water there was not much room to put a committee boat so we had a Club line start first mark Channel.There was a starboard bias to the line so a big bunch at the winner end. I started at the other end ( this was not lateral thinking I just got the time of the start wrong) and had a nice bit of water and wind all to myself. while at the other end there was some pushing and shoving and boats OCS. However everyone carried on and I soon found myself mixing it up with everyone else in a lively beat up to Channel; everyone apart from Nick Peters and Tim Polgase who sailed off for their own private race. Nick led Tim at the first mark Next there a whole bunch rounding for a long run to Freddie Brooks. At HW this leg would have been pretty straightforward but being LW it was not as everyone in our group of six boats was to find out. We had no sooner settled into an orderley line of 6 abreast most on Port but a couple of awkward individuals on Starboard when the water changed to a very muddy colour and centre boards starting popping up. This caused a few wobbles and a few chuckles from the boats on Starboard. Then weed appeared. It was clearly attached to the bottom. Then the rudders started to hit the sand. Panic ! Chaos ensued as the orderly line of boats was transformed into a melee everyone veering off in all different directions. One capsize and a collision but then the depth improved. Approaching F Brooks and With deeper water the group reformed with Matt Coleman getting round first closely followed by Robin Greg and myself. A quick run to Dunes with the tide and then a close reach to Gardener and the battle was on for third place. I felt pretty safe behind Robin Greg and Matt and Andrew but then Robin fell in on the gybe and I got by Andrew on the run to Calvert. After that it was a routine beat to the line with the tide. I was looking at a P5 to borrow Formula 1 termonology but Tim and Nick crossed the line in silence both being OCS. So Greg won crossing the line just ahead of Matt who was second AND I WAS THIRD AGAIN. Another race report to write: I must change the rules.

After the excitement of the first race, the wind had increased to upper teens and still from the North with just a little more water. Six Solos stayed out to play for the 2nd race. 5 lined up with a preference to the pin end although Robin was over and had to bear away to re-cross - only to find Neil Davison in his way. Matt Coleman was late for start and it was Tim Polglase who led early on from Greg Swift. Near Fishery Greg took the lead and for the next 2/3rds of the beat was in tune with the shifts and covering Tim. Robin was staying in touch with the remaining boats in close company. During the last 3rd of beat Greg could not pick a shift and Tim rapidly caught up with both rounding Channel side by side. On the long run to Freddie Brooks against the the two ran side by side until Tim decided to chance it and head up into the shallows and blanketed Greg. At Freddie Brooks Tim had 3 boat length lead over Greg with Robin making up some ground. Tim held his lead to Dunes with both making good gybes. It was a great reach to Fishery, successful gybes again with Tim extending by a boat length on the run to Calvert. Two more successful gybes in wind against tide waves and Tim crossed as winner with Greg second and Robin third.

Twelve solos came to the line for Race1. At the start Tim Randall was too keen and declared OCS. The lead was fought out my Tim Polglase and Nick R and David Steele keeping them honest. Then came some of this year’s additions to the fleet, Matt Coleman and Neil Davison. Tim managed to take the win from Nick R again in Race 2 with other new fleet members Neil Davidson, Roger Kelleway and John Hepworth making up the 5 that sailed this race. The rest of the old hands had found Race 1 enough for them and were ashore considering a drink and lunch.

With 3 Solo sailors running the Get Racing Club and at least 4 others out in the bay rushing around in Fireballs, there were only 5 out in the Saturday Handicap. Matt Coleman finally got the better of Nick Rawlings to win the race while Ted G managed to get past his great rival Bill I, despite Bill sporting a new sail.

The forecast was to get breezier than the 20 knots as the fleet launched. This reduced numbers slightly although there were still 9 starters for the first race. Wind was from East / South East with start near Gardner and beat with strong tide to East Head, then Dunes, then inflatable to leeward of committee boat, gate, East Head, inflatable and finish. The start of the first race of the day was hotly contested and nearly everyone tacked onto port quickly to get out into the strong favourable tide. Nick Bonner (another new member of the fleet) took an early lead and looked comfortable to hold until Robin Gadd got extremely close at the last mark, Nick Fuller held 3rd place from Greg Swift in 4th. Second race of the day and there were 5 starters. The wind was from the same direction, however now only maximum of approximately 12 knots. After the start all except Nick Bonner tacked onto port. Nick’s tactics of holding a long starboard towards John Davis was the way to go and he had a 50 metre lead at East Head. Behind him there was nothing between Alec Powell, Robin Gadd, Greg Swift and James Gaskall. The last run to the inflatable was to be the telling leg. The wind had eased further and Alec wore down Nick, finally getting the win by a whisker, James got inside Greg at the last mark and held to the finish, with Robin 5th after an untimely capsize approaching East Head the last time. In the end the Pennant Weekend 2 results were 1st Nick Fuller, 2nd Alec Powell, 3rd Greg Swift

Saturday 7th saw 12 Solos contesting day 1 of Pennant Weekend 2. A breezy East/South East gusting to 20 knots and one of the biggest strong tides of the year was going to make this a challenging day. The race officer set a triangle sausage course which thankfully was shortened to two round in each race! In race 1 Nick Fuller established an early lead and held throughout although Peter Hickson showed blistering speed on the final run to almost catchup. Greg Swift was 3rd and new member (although not new to Solos) Alec Powell was 4th. Race 2 and the breeze was still gusting 20 knots with several lighter patches. The challenges of the first race reduced the number of starters to 5 for the second race. Tim Dickinson got a brilliant start and led until near the end of the run. At this stage with the tide running out fast, the fleet closed up together and Nick Fuller took the lead from Tim, with Alec Powell staying in slacker tide longer and just getting in front of Greg Swift, with Nick Webb not far behind. Positions stayed like that on the short leg to the finish.

With 25 of us out on Saturday for the Tyler trophy , it was not surprising to see a somewhat smaller fleet out on Sunday. We welcomed Nick Bonner to the club and the fleet. This is just we needed is it not ... another Nick in the class. After an hours delay to let the breeze build up 11 boats started by Freddie Brooks with a beat up to Sandy. Our newest recruit , Nick B , was first round with Tim Polglase , Nick R and Greg Lamb in hot pursuit. And after a little shuffling here and there that was how it finished 45 minutes later. This was the inaugural 2 race Sunday of course , so we had 5 of us hang on for race 2. This started with Tim over the line and going back , but otherwise progressed very similarly to the first race with Nick B first round this time followed by Greg. However it was now quite windy and at the gybe at North Pilsey ... well into the water goes the new boy ; much to the appreciation of Greg who took over with Nick R in second. After a cracking reach up the harbour and another port tack hiking fest all the way back ; that was how it finished with Nick B in third and Tim never making any ground back in fourth.

Although it was the end of April, the morning of this year’s Tyler Open meeting was still very cold and a 1100 start on a Saturday morning to fit in with the tide all contributed to daunting the faint hearted. Nevertheless, 31 Solos including 7 visitors followed Lady G out into the bay. The wind however could not make up its mind were to blow from. Race officer Paul Maxfield worked hard to get the course lined up and got the racing underway. All 3 races had the same pattern with many place changes on the beats. Well-known names were up there at the windward mark the first time, but were back struggling in the pack the next time round. Nick Bonner, Nicholas Fuller and Nick Rawlings each won a race but none of these had the consistency to win the Trophy. This success went to Stuart Godwin who won the event with two 2nd ahead of Alex Powell with a 2nd and a 4th. It just goes to show that raw skill comes to the top. When did Stuart last sail a Solo, let alone practice in one? Going by the amount of sand he had to dig out before he could get his boat out of the dinghy park, it was a long time ago.

There was a cold, brisk Northerly wind to greet the 8 Solo sailors on the club start line on Sunday morning. Nick Rawlings and Craig Williamson got off to a flying start towards Channel, closely followed by David Steel, Graham Hughes and Robin Gadd. Aided by a strong flood tide, it took considerably less time to reach the windward mark than expected, with Craig leading at the turn. The dead run against the tide down to Freddie Brooks, with the wind increasing from behind, enabled David to slide past Nick, with Robin in close proximity. A fast beam reach down to Snowhill saw Nick sail past David to re-take 2nd place. Following the turn back to Freddie Brooks, Nick and Robin used their extensive local knowledge to catch up alongside David and Craig respectively by sailing further to the South, out of the main channel. After a short run down to Calvert and an even shorter beat up to the line, the order remained the same with Craig taking line honours, followed by Nick, David, Robin and Graham.

Sue Banister and team were in charge of the first spring series of the season and a grand job they did. The wind was a fluctuating NE force 4, so course setting was a bit of a challenge. After a bit of mark shifting all was ready and the 5 race event got underway. The short sharp races followed one after another without delay, a well run event. Tim Dickinson won the first race and came second to Nick Rawlings in the next 2. With Nick also winning the fourth it was all to play for between these two in the last race. Nick Fuller was now firmly in the grove and won race 5 to bring him up to 3rd overall ahead of Mark Allerston and Andy Voysey. Although Tim beat Nick R by one place in this race, Nick had done enough to hold onto the lead overall.

Many Solos turned up, and dragged their boats down to the beach. finally it seemed some wind was coming so most sailed out to the CB. The sequence started, we nearly reached 5 minutes to go. The wind died. The sequence was postponed. The wind never came back until after lunch when all were ashore.

Having sailed round firmly embedded in the middle of the fleet I somehow ended up having to write the race report.t but more of that later, The wind was a distinctively chilly North Easterly force 3-4 but just before the start the wind dropped and the Sun came out. This made everyone anxious not to be left behind at the start so there was a pronounced bunch of boats early at the committee boat end. The Race Officer was having none of it and called a number of boats over including Nick Peters on whom she was keeping a particular close eye. Tim Polgase alone decided to go back.. Up The first beat the wind flicked around in an unpredictable (to me at least) fashion with some big holes. Nick Peters got it right and rounded Mill Rythe first with a close chasing bunch. A long run to Sandy and then a reach to Dunes via North Winner and Tim Polgase was working his way up the fleet. A short beat to Gardner and a run to Calvert and Andrew Vovsey was in the lead. The final beat and the wind was now up to 12 knots. Tim Peters crossed the line just ahead of Andrew with Nick Rawlings third but only one toot. Both Nicks were over so Andrew won. Tim Polgase was next to claim a creditable second Matt Coleman crossed the line also to be OCS. I was next so I finished third with Greg Lamb and Craig Williamson not far behind both having fallen in round the course. So that is how I came to write this report Now I am not naturally a suspicious person but there did seem a slight whiff of a conspiracy. Tackling Nick Rawlings in the changing room his tears seemed pretty convincing and Matt Coleman had a cast iron alibi He did not know thst 3rd place meant writing the report. So that leaves Greg and Craig. Both were only just behind me. I rest my case. Finally - Many thanks to the Race Team for an enjoyable sail David Moseley .

.... until the weather intervened that is. A cold South easterly Force 6 to 7 ruled out the bay option and nobody was exactly straining at the leash to get on the water in the harbour. Simon and teams put on a single start for those who wanted to play and we had thirteen takers including Nick R and Robin Gadd in the Solos. First leg was club line to Mill Rythe and we were treated to the RS200s storming off with only about the last meter of the hull in the water. Very impressive. At Mill Rythe Nick went for the conservative option whilst Robin learnt about apparent winds turning off and the wind ‘running round the back of the mainsail’. See me later for more on this Robin. Anyway that was pretty much the trophy for Nick R who was able to complete the course and has no problems with winning ugly. (Great spectator event, even Nick had some trouble getting down wind, but a fine final gybe. Well done Nick. Barry)

NICK RAWLINGS WINS THE GERALD BELL. This was the first Pennant for the Gerald Bell Trophy with Simon Childs as race officer. We were out in the harbour entrance, races starting at high water so it was no time wasting please if we wanted to get done before the ebb started roaring. Thirteen Solos were treated to a cold force 4 ish with a big chop on and big shifts. One of these caught out most of the fleet on the start when the wind swung 30 degrees meaning the first mark could be laid on port. Nick R and Chris Powles spotted this and were the first 2 at the mark as all the others realised that they were en route to the gybe mark. Nick R won this one with Nick Peters pulling through to second. Nick P started race 2 by aiming at the right mark this time and sailed off for a win with Nick R pulling past Nick Fuller into second whilst Alex Powells got up into third. That left the overalls with three Nicks 1, 2 and 3 and all to play for.

Chris and Trevor’s magic touch failed them and it was back to winter for Sunday’s race. A cold southerly Force 3. A reduced turnout of 9 boats were happy to do one race. First at the top mark was Tim’s golden shower with Robin Gadd second and Nick Rawlings third. A broad reach back to SWP saw Robin briefly lead before he took an overly direct course to the shallows and came back to the fleet in third. Robin then went for a little swim and dropped to the back. Tim and Nick sailed away to finish in that order, Alec Powell was third and Ian Pinnell came in fourth with Robin staging a spirited fight back for fifth.

This was the postponed Opening Handicap. It was also a race in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Solo Class. Chris and Trevor presiding and arranged sunshine and medium winds – well done lads! We had an excellent turnout of 24 Solos, and a couple of other classes joined in as well. Welcome to Alex and Alec Powell who are new to the club, and welcome back to Mark Allerston. Also on display was Tim Polglases’s brand spanky new boat featuring one of H&D’s ‘golden shower’ mainsails. We had a club line start which was extremely port biased with the tide pushing us back as well. Unsurprisingly a huge bun fight developed at NW Winner and those who got out cleanly had the race in their pockets. Alex and Mark were first away to Treloar and after that Mark got away to win the Solo race. Tim pulled through from a ragged first leg to take second with David Steel third. The opening handicap was won by David Sayce with Fiona in a Fireball..

No racing, still too much wind

No racing, too much wind