It was a tricky Easterly wind Force 3-4 for the first race of the Thursday Series.
The choppy conditions due to the wind direction resulted in a few of the less experienced helms deciding to stay warm and dry in the clubhouse for the evening.
The Race Officer Adrian Symons set a Port Hand 5 Lap course and ten dinghies signed in
Again in the Laser Fleet, Kian Andrews led from the start leaving the other sailors to battle for second.
It was an eventful evening for the four strong Enterprise Fleet and Tom Kliskey with crew Kevin Hall had by far the best start over the line. On the beat it was incredibly tight between all four – however as they approached the windward mark, helm Giles Gilbert did a very neat backwards somersault out of his dinghy. Luckily he managed to keep hold of the rudder – miraculously the dinghy remained upright and he nimbly jumped back in and they continued the race. After the first lap Tom was in the lead by a very narrow ten second margin – but the experience of Colin Stephens and his crew Simon Lees ensured that by the end of the second lap they had pulled out a narrow lead which increased during the remaining laps. Further down the Fleet – Martyn Curnow with crew Bern Irwin had early season technical problems – as they rounded the gybe mark – the tiller extension snapped resulting in an early season dip for crew and helm.
https://youtu.be/uaMyilMzDPI
https://youtu.be/LJ65LJXde2Q
