Monday race report; Slightly lower turnout due to the bank holiday and Alan away in Barcelona. Still some great racing was had. Compared to last Monday conditions were tropical. 2 high-quality races were sailed in a tricky North West breeze.

The RO wisely set the windward mark a good distance upwind, and it was shifty as expected, particularly towards the windward mark.

Race 1- wind 8-12 knots breeze seemed to be generally in a right phase for the whole of race one, also seemed to be a little less tide on the right? Chris led comfortably to the WWM but on the second beat he tacked early after the mark while Giles, Hywel & Neil played the shifts on the right. This allowed Giles to take the lead. It was then a match race between Giles and Chis over the next 2.5 laps. By the last windward mark Giles had pulled away and it finished Giles, Chris, Neil.

Race 2 wind had softened 5-10 knots  - Writing this report on the luck of taking a nice lift on port after a clumsy start and having to take about 15 transoms, then finding a left shift on the lay line. Giles found good shifts on the right side of the first beat rounded the WWM first followed by Hywel & Neil. Giles then extended up the second beat and was never really threatened by Hywel who, had pulled away from Neil. As the light was fading the RO wisely shorted course and it finished Giles, Hywel, Neil.

Well done to Giles who won both races in tricky conditions. Nick was also constant with two 5ths.

Behind the top three it seemed there were plenty of close-quarters tactical sailing. I couldn’t really see what happened in radial fleet; Ann won the first race with Roberta 2nd & Robin 3rd. In the second race Robin seemed to have good lead and won with Ann 2nd & Roberta 3rd.

Thoughts:

Lining up to start with a large gap to leeward just means it will probably get stolen. You need a sufficient hole, but don’t get greedy. Give yourself sufficient gap to leeward to accelerate into, but not big enough that someone will fill it!

With the wind up & down, it’s important to change gear in the gusts & lulls esp. if using downhaul & vang to depower. I found releasing downhaul pays in the lulls and have the control line to hand to flatten before the gust hits.

Look out is key. The more you look upwind, the better you do. In 8-12 knots and flat water the speeds are too similar for boat speed to do much for you on its own. Getting the first shift right and keeping clear air is important.

Important to round the WWM with an idea about which side of the run to take.  You can lose out by getting that first call wrong. Tide v pressure.