Summer Trophy 2009 - by Ian Smith (for it is he)
Race 1 started in a Force 3-4 with Stephen pulling ahead from the start and Ian chasing him hard for 2 laps before finding a useful shift to slip by on lap 3. The Hinds and Tom stayed in close contention for 1-2 laps but the 300s pulled away on the reaches to finish 1,2. Al showed his lovely purple kite in the Vareo…all went well until the gybe when a little upset occurred. Pete, fresh from Embsay Splash coaching put his wiggling into action on the reaches to pick up some nice planes.
Race 2 again saw little to choose between Stephen, Ian and the Hinds at the start as some nice F5 gusts blew down the course. Ian managed to pull a little clear to win, but it remains in dispute who finished 2nd and 3rd (Barrie’s hand calculation versus the Sailwave software – us TOGs have our money on Barrie). Tom, Pete and Al finished 4,5,6.
Stephen made no mistakes in Race 3 to pull away by a good margin from Ian in 2nd and the Hinds in 3rd. Al strategically retired to save his energy in the rising wind for the 2 afternoon races. Tom did a little swimming and lost his race timer (later found by Barrie floating against the dam wall) but managed to finish 4th with Pete 5th.
After a high calorie lunch Race 4 saw the Hinds sail off into the lead before a breakage forced them to take up some boat re-building, dropping them to 5th. Ian and Stephen took full advantage of this to finish 1,2. Al after his rest in the morning finished 3rd with a slightly damp Tom finishing 4th.
The final race again saw some nice gusts sweeping across a now rather tired fleet. Ian hung on through cramp in arms and legs to win, with Stephen 2nd and Al third, while the Hinds struggled to stay afloat as previous boat repairs started to let in water and finished 4th.
The overall results are below.
Thanks to Barrie for being OD (looking enviously at the breeze) and Jeff on patrol boat.
Ian Smith, 4 points, 1st overall Stephen Smith 7, 2nd Andy Hind,Dudley Hind 13, 3rd Tom White, 16, 4th Al Cass, 18, 5th Pete Cowling, 22, 6th
