Upper Tamar Lake Sailing Club race report — Sunday, April 14

Commodore One

THE high winds continued with their accompanying Tamar Lake super-gusts.

This year the club’s Commodore series has an innovative new handicap system which takes into account the past performance of the skipper as well as the boat.

None of these factors stopped Jane Anderson (Topper) getting away first; she was followed by the Laser 4.7s of Bob Sampson and Nathan Pollard.

Two battles ensued; a Laser battle in which Nathan Pollard led Bob Sampson at the end of lap one but not at the end of the remaining two laps.

And a David and Goliath battle in which Roger Heasman and Sally Wills (small sails on their club Bosun) overtook Jane Anderson and finished each lap ahead until the last. New handicaps or not, the results put the competitors in the same order as they finished on the water, with Sampson the winner.

Winner: Bob Sampson (Laser 4.7); Runner-up: Nathan Pollard (Laser 4.7); 3rd: Jane Anderson (Topper); 4th: Roger Heasman, Sally Wills (Bosun)

Pursuit One

JANE Anderson’s was the first boat to set off in the Pursuit race.

She was followed by Nathan Pollard and two minutes later by the Heasman/Wills Bosun, now with full-size sails.

After another four minutes came Bob Sampson in the rear. But the wind had not abated and the gusts had increased in strength. Jane Anderson decided on the first lap that her neat frame would need a good few extra kilos if it were to keep the Topper up-right for the 67-minute length of the Pursuit race; she retired. The Lasers were planing across from Inlet to West, spray flying but Nathan Pollard was caught out rounding Dam Green and had to practice his dry capsize technique. A gust caught out the Bosun, upended it and it took all the efforts of the crew and the safety boat (John Weller and Brian Pollard) to get it upright and towed back to the pontoon.

While this was going on, Bob Sampson also gave up the uneven struggle with the winds. Nathan Pollard was left, alone and magnificent, to win the race, a second capsize after the finish not dettering him. Winner: Nathan Pollard (Laser 4.7)

Retired: Jane Anderson (Topper), Roger Heasman, Sally Wills (Bosun) and Bob Sampson (Laser 4.7)

Grateful thanks were given to Nicky Buckett and Linda Spiller who ran the races and to John Weller and Brian Pollard for safety boat duties.