We’ve now managed to get hold of some more information about the Mini Series on Sunday and the good news is that the fleet in fact managed to get three races in before the wind came up too much.  Apologies for our earlier misleading report indicating only one race was possible.

Our front line reporter Chris Matthews confirms that conditions were indeed pretty hairy, but that didn’t stop the crews enjoying three really great close races with the boats finishing only inches apart on each occasion.  Race Officers Dick Stephens and Marilyn Hempstead set up the course between Point Clear (pin end of start line/leeward mark) and Stone (weather mark) which gave three nice windward leeward races of around 30 mins each.

Malcolm Goodwin summed up the day perfectly saying – “It was hectic but the crews showed great control in the conditions.  In the third race we all crossed the line together within inches.  Sadly it turned out I was just over the line at the start so had to retire, but it was a great race.”

The wind built steading through the races with some big shifts and increasingly fierce gusts and by the final run only Egret elected to carry her spinnaker.  There were a few small items of gear failure but overall everyone survived admirably.  Panic did come out to the race area but it was Bob and Alistair’s first sail in their new boat so they chose not to race and instead spent some time getting used to the new boat.

“I had considered running four races.” said Dick “But by the time they finished the third race it was so windy everyone just turned for home without giving me a second glance.  It was very shifty and gusty and probably the most difficult part of the day was getting back into the creek at half tide so the majority of the boats dropped their mains and sailed in under jib alone.”

RESULTS

Race 1
1st C27 Rebel – Chris Matthews
2nd C1 Jean – Malcolm Goodwin
3rd C8 Egret – Danny Fox
4th C53 White Spirit – Mark White
C20 Ruff – Trevor Stone/Mike Rees/Jim Bray – RTD
C9 Bidi – Colin Willett/Dan Willett – RTD

Race 2
1st C1 Jean – Malcolm Goodwin
2nd C27 Rebel – Chris Matthews
3rd C53 White Spirit – Mark White
4th C8 Egret – Danny Fox
5th C9 Bidi – Colin Willett/Dan Willett
6th C20 Ruff – Trevor Stone/Mike Rees/Jim Bray

Race 3
1st C27 Rebel – Chris Matthews
2nd C8 Egret – Danny Fox
3rd C9 Bidi – Colin Willett/Dan Willett
4th C20 Ruff – Trevor Stone/Mike Rees/Jim Bray
5th C53 White Spirit – Mark White
C1 Jean – Malcom Goodwin – OCS

Overall
1st C27 Rebel – Chris Matthews
2nd C1 Jean – Malcom Goodwin
3rd C8 Egret – Danny Fox