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2010 Kestrel Open Meeting - Netley Sailing Club Report & Results |
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A very close battle at the front of the fleet took place between Dusty & Liam and John & Olive. On Saturday we had more breeze than forecast, and with an overall fleet of approx 45, comprising of Shearwater Cats, Hornets, Kestrels and Scorpions, made for some interesting boat on boat situations. Race one saw first place swap many times with Dusty sailing "Jake", Liam's boat, just taking the win. Race two was sailed around the same large triangle sausage course, this time John & Olive kept Dusty & Liam at bay until the last mark, where John & Olive got caught between a couple of other classes at this mark, which let Dusty & Liam through to take the win. Third place was taken by Kevin & Kevin in both races. After a whistle stop tour of the boat show and a very fruitful meeting with Richard and Mark Hartley it was back to the club for a fish and chip dinner and disco. We all woke again to more breeze than was forecast, but with brighter skies and the breeze easing off, allowing Alan & Julie in 1516, to take to the water in race three as an injury had kept them from sailing on Saturday. Pre-race preparation was some what last minute, as Dusty had complained to Liam about the huge amount of effort it took to steer the bl**dy thing, which meant we were drilling out the downhaul for the rudder with about 30 minutes to go. Race Three was sailed in a force 3/4 with gusts and around a large triangle sausage course. Kevin and Kevin messed up the start again "was it 1 min to go or two" but were on the line, as were the other three. Dusty & Liam and John & Olive had a real battle at the front, as did Kevin & Kevin and Alan & Julie. Further back, 1516 were going very well upwind and were hard to stay with. Kevin & Kevin caught them downwind due to Alan & Julie not being able to fly the spinnaker. Unbeknown to the rest of us, Alan had cut the tip of his finger and was slowly filling the inside of his Kestrel with blood!!!Race four and race five were again close at the front as it was at the back, with great moments, apart from when Kevin let go of the main sheet, throwing Kevin into the water... how he held onto the jib sheet with one hand I will never know. But it was impossible to depower the thing with him still holding on to it, so we had a water ski moment for a while, and Kev managed to clamber back in. Other than the puffa fish moment the other two races were sailed in lightening conditions, and at some points became very shifty. We had some great sailing on Sunday, and lots of it... launching at 10.30am and coming off the water at 3.30pm. Thanks to Jo (Glasspool), who ended up working on shore, and Tim the Race Officer who also worked behind the bar both nights to well after midnight. Kevin Edwins. |
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