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EXTRA LAP COSTS COLEMAN

Friday, May 2, 2008
Sport/Sailing
Brading Haven Yacht Club
THERE was a good turnout of 13 dinghies for racing last Saturday and with a course set by commodore Gordon Osborne, everyone enjoyed the Force 3 south-easterly breeze and the bright sunshine.
Richard Coleman led the fast handicap fleet around the triangular course but enjoyed his sailing so much he ended up doing an extra lap, pushing himself out of a winning position.
Roger and Gill Herbert were the first across the finish line in their Wayfarer but had to settle for a second place on handicap, allowing the Europe of Chris Wilkinson to collect the winning honours, with John Carter taking a third, also sailing a Wayfarer.
In the slow handicap class, Paddy Thompson showed everyone the way around the course to cross the line a winner by more than two minutes, with Graham Sutton in second place and Francesca Morgan third, all sailing Scows.
David Earee took over as race officer on Sunday, setting a testing course around the tide gauge in a stiff south-westerly breeze but dull conditions.
Martyn Davies set the pace in his Contender with the rest not far behind, to be the first over the finish line with a win on handicap as well. Tim and David Wiggins made an excellent second place in their RS 200 with the RS Vareo of Marten Springett third.
Monday sees the club’s annual pursuit race, organised by Roy Knight. The start will be at 11am on the club line, with a briefing at 10am outside the race box.

Royal Victoria Yacht Club
THE freshening south-south-westerly breeze gave everyone some good racing in the final race of the club’s spring series.
The Squibs were first away with seven boats starting. Martin and Anne Harrison were the winners, in Hussar, and took the series with four firsts. Second was Steve Warren-Smith, in Aquabat. He was runner-up in the series.
In the fast handicap class, eight dinghies, mainly Lasers, started but it was Dare Barry, in his National 12, who won on corrected time, followed by Jim McMillan and Jon Evans in Lasers.
The Oppies dominated the slow handicap class and the young sailors did well coping with the strong westerly tide but were helped by the freshening wind. Brad McLaughlin was race winner, ahead of Emma Baker and Emma Gillet.
Overall series winner was Freddie Warren-Smith, with Matt Cornforth second.
Sunday sees the start of the TST series and bigger fleets are expected, especially in the Squib fleet.
Tomorrow (Saturday) is the club’s fundraising day, organised by Gail Force Catering.
There’s a boat jumble from 2pm to 5pm, with refreshments, a hog roast and live music.
The first session on an introduction to racing is next Saturday, May 10, and suits novice sailors who want to improve. Those interested can book via the link on the club’s website.

Yarmouth Sailing Club
CONDITIONS were ideal for the first Solent race of the season.
Two Picos came to the line and Sue Denton gained an early lead over Bethany Bowen, which she held for the entire race but Bethany was in close contention throughout.
In the Scows, Nick Measor led the fleet away but Melinda Measor read the tidal conditions correctly to lead at the first mark. By the end of the first round she was well ahead of the rest of the fleet, where she stayed for the rest of the race.
Behind her, positions were changing constantly. By the end of round two, Roger P-Edgerton had worked his way up to second but Graeme Bowen got the better of him at the first buoy of round three and held him off to take second place on the line.