SAILINGAROUND 30 boats braved a freezing easterly wind to take part in Gurnard Sailing Club’s first race of the new season, part of the Early Bird Series.
After a tentative start, the cats were first fleet to hit the chop in the main channel and were also first to require some capsize recovery. Dougie Wright’s F18 dumped the chasing Shadows to pull away and score a first point.
Of the nine RS400s there were also a few inversions, including an early dip for Paul Bowen and Shaun Kellett, who nevertheless recovered well to win from Ben and Gail Willows, with Brett Aarons third.
Rudder problems brought James Downer’s challenge to an early end.
The fast fleet mostly gave it a miss, leaving Martin Scott’s Sprint cat to score a lonely point after Derek Kingsland retired.
By contrast, the stronger medium fleet were keen to get going and after a couple of jumped starts Derek Ness took the gun followed by Mark Harrison and Martin Bean.
Shannon Tate made the best start in the Picos and kept her lead until the end, finishing ahead of Andy Paterson and the Rocketts in a fleet of eight.