Another grey cold day with mountainous clouds over Mundon Spit awaited the fleet. The mud banks crowded with wading birds slowly bunching closer together as a five-metre tide swirled in around the empty mooring buoys. The grey damp coldness wafted across the dinghy park on a Northy 10 knots of breeze. 
The fleet was joined, for the fist time in this winter series, by Mr. Martin Scarth with Tony King in the crewing position sailing a Fireball (a very welcomed visitor from the Blackwater S.C.) As it turned out it was to be Martin and Tony’s day.
The start was a “game affair” with the fleet pushing its luck more and more through each start of the series. The game plan by some appears to be “sod going the right way on port tack to the start line, lets see who we can push on to the submerged spit mud!” As one might think the majority just wished to get on to the line with boat speed on the starting signal and get racing. It appeared to the clubhouse upper gallery (filled with the armchair champions) that there was a lack of response from the panicked port tack boats. On the approach the wicked (lets have some fun) starboard tack boats, Jacko and Keith, let (the welcomed visitor) Martin and Tony do most of the damage with his gentlemanly calls of “starboard” as all three squeezed the Lasers in to cries of (well I cannot quite recall the actual words) but the words “room” or “water” did not feature to much. They were being the cause of misery! Then tacking off on to port, Keith, suddenly had a half-hearted poke at Martin whilst being overlapped, with Dave and Kat (GP14) escaping the carnage running down Jacko, who appeared to be confused that Lorna had turned in to Roger, and in a flash of the eye all four rounded Spit mark and sped off up the windward leg.
It was noted that Jacko and Roger tried the same rotten move in the next race start but with no boat speed and consequently got spat out the back door, to much merriment of the upper gallery.
At the top of the windward leg Martin and Tony were already stamping their authority on the fleet with some very smart spinnaker work on the short tight reaching legs and Tony’s ability to understand and navigate the new Maylandsea Bay course card.
With the second start of the day being as calculated as the first and the wind rising to a tasty 14 – 16 knots the pairing were unbeatable and deservedly took the two bullets of the day.
Keith in his Finn, masterful as ever having made good starts and only whacking one race mark, thankfully not the one the race committee had just finished repainting, and rending turns sailed well, leading Jacko and Roger around most of the second race, despite Jacko’s comments about “do you ever sit out” and “do you ever move in that boat” Keith maintained a healthy smile, and as the wind built in the second race sailed faster and faster finishing with a 3rd and a 2nd.
Jacko and stand in crew Roger Mander quickly found themselves in some new and interesting sailing moves, Roger, a well accomplish fireball helm, worked the front end well but did not quite have the awesome authority (rule of terror) that Lorna appears to control Jacko with. The boat was awfully quiet, and Jacko appeared relaxed, also finishing with a 2nd and a 3rd
Another welcome returnee was Mick Wright sailing a Laser. Mick’s laser skills gave him a comfortable lead on the next Laser sailor, Martin who again had a comfortable lead on Clive. Mick finished with a 4th and a 5th.
So once again we find the winter series going to a cliffhanger finish with one point being the margin with all to sail for. Jacko and Lorna have it all to lose with Keith having it all to gain. The question being, will the wind still be in the north? Will the start get any more treacherous? Will the club upper gallery stop laughing? Has Ron won the splat the duck competition? All will be revealed.
1st Merlin Rocket Jacko and Lorna 6 points
2nd Finn Keith Fedi 7 points
3rd Fireball Malcolm and Tony 16 points
4th Laser Martin Tarling 20 points
5th Laser Clive Tarling 24 points
6th GP14 Dave and Kat 35 points
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