Weekend for the lightweights

Light winds dominated at the B14 open at Brightlingsea SC

The fleet of 17 boats were greeted with mirror seas and no wind at Brightlingsea SC. However, the wind filled in on time and the fleet launched into a southerly force two.

Race one got away with the fleet splitting left and right. At the windward mark Matt Searle and Andy Ramus on Gutted Hedgehog led from Guy Whitby and Anna Payne and Mark Barnes nd Tom Pygall on Readycrest closely followed by the pack. Readycrest passed Whitby and Payne on the second downwind leg. This resulted in Gutted Hedgehog and Readycrest playing a cat and mouse game for the rest of the race with Gutted Hedge holding onto a three boat length lead till the finish. Jon Branch and Karen Wiseman had progressively worked their way through the fleet to pip Readycrest at the finish by less than a bowspit followed Mark Watts and Stig PICA and Mike Bees an Martin Worth.

Race two saw the fleet get away first time with Chris Bines and Dave Gibbons CSC being over and having to return. Again the racing was very tight but Mike Bees and Martin Worth took the lead followed by the pack. CSC worked her way back into a contending position. On lap three the wind died away and then filled in from the right with a 90 degree shift. Those on the left being CSC, Readycrest and Gutted Hedgehog were left behind but it did result in a full on reach under kite. Bees and Worth held on to win followed by Branch and Wiseman, CSC and Simon Hadley and Pete Nicholson.

Race three was abandoned when a large shift came through resulting in there being no beat and two reaches. On the restart in a force three, the race again proved to a close run thing. Gutted Hedgehog made the running from the start followed by CSC and Readycrest. CSC first passed Gutted Hedgehog followed by Readycrest. On round four Readycrest got the better of CSC only to lose the lead due to a kite hoisting problem so dropping to third. With little to chose between the three, Gutted Hedgehog headed a lap early to the finish resulting in them rejoining the fleet in fifth. CSC held onto the lead to take the win from Readycrest, Bees and Worth, PICA and Gutted Hedgehog.

Sunday dawned and the breeze was slightly more than Saturday. Race four started after a slight delay. At the windward mark, there was an incident between CSC and Branch and Wiseman resulting in the disqualification of CSC in the protest room later. They were followed by PICA and Readycrest. Pica and Readycrest overtook CSC and Branch and Wiseman on the downwind leg. Over the next two laps PICA held onto a slim lead only to be passed by Readycrest on the last downwind leg. However, the joker was played on the run into the finish with PICA getting their own private gust so taking the finish by the smallest of margins from Readycrest, followed by Branch and Wiseman, Piers Lambert and Tim Bees and Bees and Worth.

The tide was slackening for race five. The result was the fleet jumped the start and resulted in a general recall. At the restart, the fleet again split left and right with the leaders coming in either from the hard right or left. At the windward mark the Brightlingsea fleet were showing the way with Bees and Worth, Lambert and Bees and CSC leading the charge. With the gusts becoming stronger, many place changes took place downwind. The big gainers in this race were Branch and Wiseman, at less than 19 stone being able to go deeper than anyone else, they gradually worked their way to the front on the last lap winning from CSC followed by Bees and Worth, Readycrest and Don Forster and Kate Forster.

Race six, and the bulk of the fleet went left led by Readycrest and CSC. However, the leaders came from the right led by Bees and Worth, PICA and Branch and Wiseman. During the race Branch and Wiseman then CSC got the better of Bees and Worth. At the finish Branch and Wiseman beat PICA and CSC by several boat lengths, followed by Bees and Worth holding off a charging Readycrest by inches.

The result was that Branch and Wiseman won from Bees and Worth beating Readycrest on countback.

Our thanks must go to the great hospitality of the club and good on the water race management.

Results:

1-Jon Branch and Karen Wiseman
2-Mike Bees and Martin Worth
3-Mark Barnes and Tom Pygall
4-Mark Watts and Stig
5-Chris Bines and Dave Gibbons