| 50th Anniversary Day – What a great Day !! |
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| Written by Mike Curtis |
| Saturday, 12 September 2009 00:18 |
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50th Anniversary Day – What a great Day !! The morning started at 8:00 with the first challenge of the day, how to get the Hog Roast cooker up the ramp. After a bit of head scratching we decided the winch was the only answer, which inthe process managed to damage one of the burners due to the vibrations over the grooves on 10:30 saw the start of the 90 min pursuit race, longer than most of us are now used to, and with the wind increasing steadily to a gusty force 3 to 4, there were a lot of tired sailors by the end. 41 boats started the race, 15 Lasers, 12 Solos and 14 Handicap boats, with a very respectable 35 finishers. Andy Barnett and his team certainly had their hands full, a good course was set and swan like they seemed to breeze through, albeit the finishing of the second half of the fleet did ruffle their feathers a bit. The race was dominated by the Solo fleet with 5 finishers in the top 8, which I am not sure why as the wind increased during the race and the course did not seem to favour them, just good sailing I guess. The race however was won by Peter Curtis in an RS300 who admitted afterwards that he overtook the whole Laser fleet on one beat, yes there were some massive wind shifts. Gareth Griffiths (Solo) continued in his great vain of form and was second with Graham & Bradley The Junior racing, run by Mike Jones started at 11:00 in a corner of the reservoir, away from the main Pursuit race. With 11 boats this again was a great success. 3 short back to back races were held with Tom Newman in a Topper coming out on top, with a first and 2 seconds, James Curtis and Harry 2nd in a Feva with 2 firsts and a fourth, and Alex Storey 3rd with 2 thirds and a sixth. Well done to all the Juniors who took part. Following the sailing we all settled down to a fantastic Hog Roast, with I believe just under 150 portions being served. A great big thank you to Debbie and June for producing some fantastic salads and deserts, and also to our South African chef who in the face of adversity (the wind regularly blowing out the 2 of his remaining burners) managed to feed us all handsomely. The Prize giving followed lunch with Rob & Helen Pettit presenting the prizes, with Peter Curtis receiving the new Commodores Plate and Tom Newman the Junior trophy. Anniversary medals were also presented to all of the juniors that took part in both the main and junior racing. We then moved into the Funday, again run by Mike Jones. As ever the ball collecting race was well supported and with the ever increasing wind, now up to a 5+, became very exciting with a number of capsizes and lots of swimming. The winner was Sophie Storey with a magnificent total of 155, which I am sure all Dad Mike did was steer the boat. As the wind became too strong, the sail’s were dropped, and a manic paddling was held, followed by a record breaking 19 children on one topper and a grand finale water pistol battle. Finally after the Fun afternoon, we managed to get everyone back into the club house for the raffle, with some great prizes donated by club members. Thanks to you all and to Tessa for organising. A big thank you to everyone one who helped out on the day, and to all the members, old and new for turning up and supporting our 50th Anniversary. It was great to see some of our past commodores and also to see so many new members, Tuesday Trysailor’s, Wednesdsay and Sunday sailing school members, all joining in. It truly was a Great Day !! Results Pursuit Race Junior Series Mike Curtis |
