Traveller at South Cerney SC 19th June

On Sunday 19th June 2005 South Cerney Sailing Club held a Europe Open Meeting alongside a Laser Open. Five Europes took part in the event, which included two local boats. The day was extremely hot and sunny but unfortunately the breeze was late to arrive resulting in a short postponement. When racing did get under way, a wind shift strongly favoured the pin end for the first start.

All five Europes were fighting for the pin end position. Stacey Vials was pushed out and had nowhere to go on the start. Katie Mapplebeck was forced to come back after being forced over the line. So the lead went to Elena Daynes who rounded the windward mark in first place. After a few legs of the race the lead was taken over by Stacey, who lost it on the last two legs to Katie who stormed through to take first place, with Stacey second and Elena in third. Claire Smith, the other visitor, had difficulty in the first race due to a technical problem with her kicker and retired.

In the second race the Europes were close together again but Katie got away taking first place again, with Stacey second, Elena third, Claire fourth and in fifth place, Bronwyn Honeychurch, sailing a Europe for the first time ever.

The third race was the most exciting with Bronwyn taking an early lead and being first to the windward mark followed by Elena. Katie got into third position with Stacey and Claire behind. Bronwyn and Elena battled for the first two places up the second beat allowing Katie to catch up and cause a few problems for Bronwyn - who shouted “protest” at Katie. Elena took the lead closely followed by Katie at the windward mark. Then Katie completed her 720 and held second place. On the next lap there was a big wind shift allowing Katie to overtake Elena. Claire also saw this shift and flew up the beat overtaking three boats! After a long battle Katie managed to work her way into first place, with Elena dropping into second place. A couple of legs later Stacey managed to judge the course right and overtook Elena. However, Katie was unstoppable and took her third first place of the day.

The day was really enjoyable with interesting courses, all made better by the blistering sunshine. The day was finished off with a Fly-Past from the Red Arrows.

Results