Maylandsea Bay Winter races 7&8 Postponed to a later day

As the Mayland fleet looked at the rain chucking it down and the rigging rattled as the wind 20 knots gusting 30 the race box pulled the plug and racing was postponed, to be sailed on the 20th December. But as is the way of sailing within thirty minutes the sun came out and a 10-knot breeze settled, but it was all too late. Long faces and a sense of being cheated out of a sail were abound.
However the tabletop sailboat race game was set up and reps from each class sought, the dice rolled and it was race on.
For the reader who might have forgotten the delights of this form of torment, it is where racing sailors can demonstrate their racing skills without getting wet. All the rules of racing apply with the knowledge that once you have removed your fingers from your boat it is the next persons turn to roll the dice and speed of the hand does not over ride the rules of racing. (I have seen the N12 class having to be restrained from heated verbal abuse in the ‘speed of the hand against the racing rules’)

Rob ‘Hornet rep’ won the start and putting in an early tack headed NE reaching the deep water and strong tide first with Kate, ‘GP rep’, heading NW staying out of the tide for as long as possible. By the time Kate rounded the Windward mark she had a 6 boat lengths lead from Kevin ‘Fireball rep’ with Rob and Dean also ‘Hornet rep’ having got involved in a race to pass through a narrow gap between an island and a large rock just off shore, sailing against the tidal flow and losing a lot of boat lengths with the additional tacks required. The race moves continued without change until the rounding of the last mark with the following short windward leg to the finish where Kate was robed with only a boat length to the finish by Kevin pulling the slippery Sam card move to take the bullet on his last move.
Rob having dropped behind Dean on rounding the jibe mark stayed calm and in a Hoover-manoeuvre slid past Dean to finish 3rd. The race was conducted in the best of possible taste giving the disappointment of not sailing. However the wind had now returned and was ripping cats paws across the bay.

As a Merlin sailor owners said “it is better to be in the clubhouse wishing to be out on the water than to be out on the water wishing to be in the clubhouse.

Notables: That the 20th December has been added to the race schedule.

Peter Playle still leads the Splat the Duck Competition by four mast drippings


Next Race 6th December at 13:30
Full results
Overall
1st    Alan Jackson and Lorna Laval        Merlin      3 points
2nd   Malcolm Cross and Tony Everitt    Fireball     8 points
3rd   Martin Tarling                                Laser       9 points