SAILINGTHE winter finally arrived last weekend for the penultimate round of Gurnard Sailing Club’s frostbite series.
All courses had to be shortened as the wind turned nasty.
Steve Cole made a great start in the fast group ahead of Martin Scott’s cat, but had to retire damaged, leaving the lead to the bullet-proof Scott.
The RS500s of Phil Wright and Derek Ness were close until Wright retired, with Ness finally third behind Keith Hayden.
The RS400s split tacks up the beat with Paul Tyson first to the windward mark. However, Tyson was another victim as capsizes and damage reduced the fleet and Chris Symons took the gun after a tough race.
In the cats, Paul Jennings’ Hurricane gained speed in the rising wind to overtake Robin Leather, who took his foot off the gas late on but saved enough time to land first place. Tony Wyeth was a fighting third.
In the medium group, Mark Harrison took the lead and was never passed. Chris Gillies’ RS100 was the only other finisher in the tricky conditions.
Meanwhile, in the unusually depleted Laser group, Martin Bean took the gun ahead of Georgia Caws but it was Harry Carter who scored the points for second place on handicap.
The slow handicap group was won by the consistent Adam Coventry just ahead of Alex Paterson.
Sunday’s race, the last of the series, will be followed by the end of season prize-giving and celebrated with mulled wine and mince pies in the clubhouse.