Lightnings and Supernovas

Report from this weekend's racing

A fleet of six Lightnings attended this meeting shared with Supernovas in unsettled weather with dark clouds and some sunshine and winds mainly force four and gusting to five.

Teenager Jack Norton (West Oxford) took an early lead in the first race, closely followed by Bob Hills (Cotswold) and Sean Carter (Bristol Avon). On the second beat, a giant lift brought fourth placed Andrew Young (Cotswold) up to the windward mark on port tack with only minimum room to tack ahead of Hills and Norton closing abreast on starboard, and take the lead. Sue Gilmore (Oxford) passed Carter and Norton and the fleet stretched out to finish 1st Young, 2nd Hills, 3rd Gilmore.

After an excellent lunch a longer course was set for the afternoon races. Five boats went to the start line, Carter having dropped out due to a leaky boat from damage in transit. Gilmore lead from the start, followed by Norton, then Young, Mike Brown (Oxford) and Hills at the rear. Hills passed Brown and closed up on Young while the first two increased the gaps between themselves and the others, to finish 1st Gilmore, 2nd Norton, 3rd Young.

The third race started back-to-back, but Norton unfortunately had to drop out with an injured knee. With such close scoring, it was hotly contested, with all four boats close together at the windward mark. It was nip and tuck all the way with frequent changes of position. Finally, Hills got clear ahead of Gilmore who just pipped Young over the line by a few seconds to win the event.

Final scores were:- 1st Gilmore (Oxford S C)
2nd Hills (Cotswold S C)
3rd Young (Cotswold S C)