Saturday 16th January saw 20 dinghies race in the Gul Winter Series (Plymouth) 2010.
The over night strong winds abated to a force 2 / 3 SW wind which saw the Asymmetric fleet race a windward leeward course with a temporary mark laid South of Drakes Island & West Mallard as the leeward mark. The first race saw Rod Boswijk & Sharon Binney dominate the race in their B14 with John Cotgreave from Plymouth University in his RS700 managing to beat Graeme Macleod Hobie Tiger into third spot.
The fast & slow handicap fleets had a more tradition course which saw them race to Melampus then onto Asia & NW Winter before rounding West Mallard.
Martin Kimber returned to the laser class in the fast handicap fleet with a first place to make the transition worthwhile. Keiron & Betsy Kennedy sailed an excellent race in their Kestral to claim second place ahead of Nigel Clatworthy’s Contender.
The slow handicap race saw the six Firefly dinghiesfrom Plymouth University misread the start line with all boats over the start line, Guy Mitcelmore in his Lightning managed to get the better of Chris Rollinson in a Europe dinghy to claim first & second places respectively.
The second race saw the Asymmetric fleet take the buoys to port with West Mallard being the first buoy. The first three boats from race 1 misread the course & effectively raced a lap of the course before starting the race when the passed West Mallard to port for the first time. The SB3 sailed by George Barker from Oxford SC soon started to pull away from the second SB3 sailed by Stuart Jones who had a close battle with Jon & Nikki Buckler who had their first race in their RS400. Eventually George Barker claimed a well deserved first place ahead of Jon & Nikki Buckler’s RS400 who kept Stuart Jones SB3 close enough to beat him on handicap.
The second race for the Fast & slow handicap fleets saw the race to Melampus again, then onto Dunstone before returning to West Mallard.
The fast handicap fleet saw a reversal of fortunes for the laser & contender with Nigel Clatworthy’s Contender taking first place ahead of Kieron & Betsy Kennedy’s Kestral with Martin Kimbers laser in third spot.
The slow handicap felt saw a repeat of the first race with all of the Firefly’s over the start line. Guy Mitchelmore repeated his first race success to claim another first ahead of Chris Rollinson.
Overall the Asymmetric fleet is currently being led by Jon & Nikki Buckler’s RS400 just ahead of George Barker’s SB3 with Rod Boswijk & Sharon Binney in third place in their B14. The Fast Handicap has Nigel Clatworthy’s Contender & Martin Kimber’s Laser tied on points with Keiron & Betsy Kennedy in third place just a quarter of a point behind.
The slow handicap fleet has Guy Mitchelmore leading ahead of Chris Rollinson.
With many other boats entered in the series already the next race on the 30th January promises to be another excellent race.
Race results for Races 1 & 2 – please click here
For Overall Series Results please click here
by Jon Buckler
