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Rutland - 2005 |
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Rutland 16th - 17th April 2005 The weather
gods were good to us at the first National Ranker of the season in
terms of no rain, as the forecast had threatened. Seven Europes turned
out with Richard Eagleton, Sarah Pullen and Tobin Dennis travelling
from Bexhill Sailing Club, Ian Stow from Weston while Katie
Mapplebeck,
Stacey Vials and Gareth Williams travelled South from various points
North. The event was a joint event with the Splash Class, who also
provided the RO. On Saturday we all
turned up early to tweak our boats, and for some of us dust off the
cobwebs from winter. The sky was overcast with some sunny spells &
the wind was light and very shifty (RO said up to 65 - 70 degrees). Race 1: The start was
postponed for a short time as the wind shifted left, though the RO did
not move the course. The countdown began even though you could lay the
1st mark off the port end! As the 5 minutes tick away we all positioned
ourselves on the start line. Just as we started, the wind shifted back
right causing big problems for Ian and Katie who started at the
port
end. Gareth, Stacey and Richard had flying
starts from the starboard
end, with the wind lifting them towards the mark. The course was very
short (about 20mins) so, if you made a mistake, it was difficult to
make it back. Gareth held his lead through out the race, with Stacey in
2nd and Richard in 3rd. Race 3 The race officer had abandoned the Splash's second race because of the lack of wind. We all sat around for a while waiting for the wind to come back. We didn't have long to wait as the wind filled in and off we went. The fourth race scheduled for the day was cancelled and we were all retired to the bar! On Sunday there was an early start at 10.25am. The sky was blue and the breeze was stronger than on Saturday and was predicted to build throughout the day. Race 4 The races got underway very quickly with Katie, Ian and Stacey battling for the top places. Race 5 Tobin had the best start, flying from the starboard end above the fleet. Unfortunately he had Katie below him and she held him to a high line, which caused him to tack. Race 6 Most went off the line quickly and sat on starboard for a while. Gareth and Tobin tacked off below the fleet onto port and went right up the beat. Gareth tacked back onto starboard and was lifted all the way to the mark, while the rest of the fleet were left at least 6-7 boat lengths behind. Gareth led without contest up to the 3rd beat, where he led the fleet left, Katie & Ian had a bit of a battle for 4/5th places at the leeward mark and Katie tacked off going left up the beat, which luckily paid off as she rounded in 2nd place at the top mark. At the last mark, Gareth thought he had to do another beat, but saw Katie sailing off towards the finish and headed down towards the finish to take 1st place by one boat length. Race 7 Gareth had another good race, closely followed by Katie and Richard. Race 8 Gareth led from the start catching the first shift up to the windward mark. Gareth managed to hold his lead, from Ian and Katie for the first lap, but on the last beat he tacked for the mark, jumped out and did what most of us have done before and missed his toe straps, capsizing & losing his sunglasses! Katie and Ian were neck and neck down the run, but Katie managed to get to the bottom mark first and held her lead to the finish. Many thanks to all who were able to stay for the Prizegiving and to the Splash Class & Rutland Sailing Club for accommodating us. Katie Mapplebeck Results - Sailed: 8 Discards: 1
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