Upper Tamar Lake Sailing Club race report — Sunday, August 5

Sailboat Six

THE weather forecast was again for clear skies and hot sun, with just a challenging light wind due to veer from south to west to a northerly direction.

So for the first race of the day, 12 dinghies set off on a course upwind to the dam, the breeze initially behaving as expected.

The four Laser sailors, Sue Murray, Bob Sampson, Nathan Pollard and Linda Spiller, had all chosen full sails and they soon took a strong lead, along with James Pollard in his new Blaze.

This group were in tight contention throughout the race, jostling for position. Sampson maintained his place in front for laps two and three and just managed to hold off Sue at the finish as she gained extra momentum from a rogue gust.

Linda Spiller didn’t stay with this group, not coping well with these odd gusts and sometimes violent swirls of wind. She retired after just half a lap and a messy capsize. The rest of the very mixed fleet sailed without mishap, Robin Spiller’s Streaker and Paul Whybrow’s Solo battling for 5th place until the latter crossed the line just one second in front.

Then came Geoff Floyd in his Solo, two seconds ahead of John Dabbs’ Gull, whose PY elevated him from 8th on the water to 4th.

The later Topper of Vicky Duncalf benefitted similarly.

Winner: Bob Sampson (Laser Full); Runner-up: Sue Murray (Laser Full); 3rd: Nathan Pollard (Laser Full); 4th: John Dabbs (Gull); 5th: James Pollard (Blaze); 6th: Paul Whybrow (Solo); 7th: Robin Spiller (Streaker); 8th: Vicky Duncalf (Topper); 9th: Geoff Floyd (Solo); 10th: Cilla Gilbert & Brian Pollard (Bosun); 11th: Alan Comber & John Weller (Enterprise)

Retired: Linda Spiller (Laser Full)

Pursuit Six

BY THE second race, the wind had become a more decisive north westerly, giving none of the boats too much difficulty.

With start times adjusted according to dinghy PY and the helm’s previous placings in the series, slower members of the fleet started before the more speedy, who were challenged with overtaking within a set time.

John Dabbs’ Gull had almost completed a lap before James Pollard started in his Blaze, but gradually the fleet pulled closer together. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert’s Bosun passed Vicky Duncalf’s Topper and then managed to keep second place.

Meanwhile Bob Sampson worked his way through the fleet to the front, where he stayed to win his second victory of the day. Paul Whybrow gained a couple of places to finish third and Nathan Pollard moved from starting ninth to fourth place.

Winner: Bob Sampson (Laser Full); Runner-up: Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun); 3rd: Paul Whybrow (Solo); 4th: Nathan Pollard (Laser Full); 5th: John Dabbs (Gull); 6th: John Weller and Alan Comber (Enterprise); 7th: Linda Spiller (Laser Full); 8th: Vicky Duncalf (Topper); 9th: James Pollard (Blaze); 10th: Geoff Floyd (Solo)

Thanks were expressed to the officers of the day Toby Tobias and Sally Wills and to Mandy Pollard for the photographs.