SAILING: SUNDAY was perfect for sailing at Gresford Sailing Club. A nice breeze from the north was a little on the cold side, but the wall-to-wall sunshine cancelled out most of the chill.
The Flash was busy with 12 boats turning out for the afternoon's sailing. Race number one was not without incident. The start line was full of boats which led to a few problems. Gareth Morris, with crew Naomi Townsend in a GP14, was the first to emerge from the pack, closely followed by Nick and Isabel Blore in their Enterprise and Kevin Forbes with John Parry in a GP.
As the race progressed, Blore took the lead with Forbes in second spot. But the handicap came into play in this race, on top of which a few of the boats did not follow the finishing procedure correctly.
The final outcome of all this mayhem was that David and Zara Turtle, in their Mirror, took the top spot from the Blores in second place, closely followed by Forbes and Parry. Morris and Townsend were fourth after doing a course correction to finish correctly.
Race number two was class racing, with each class starting at three-minute intervals. Zara Turtle helmed her Mirror to glory in her class, Hannah Blore won the Solo class, Gareth Morris was first in the GPs and Nick Blore won the Enterprise class.
The third and final race of the day was back to the handicap system and the wind freshened and seemed to favour the Solo-class boats that took the first three places. Nigel Bore was the go-fast man this time with stiff opposition from Hannah Blore and Keith Baskerville who finished in that order.
Sunday morning's single-handed series was again well supported and managed by Gethin Morris. Both Solo and Enterprise-class boats took part.
The first race saw David Turtle (Solo) lead from start to finish to take top honours. The second place was hotly contested between the Solos of Hannah Blore and Steve Price, with positions changing all the time. Blore finished second and Price third.
The second race of the morning session saw Harry Bainbridge in an Enterprise lead from start to finish, as conditions where much calmer for the start of this race. David Turtle and Hannah Blore had a good dual this time, swapping places all through the race. Turtle was second and Blore third.
Wednesday last week featured individual handicap racing based on the class of boat and the sailing ability of the helmsman. The light breeze came from the north-west for the start.
David Hopkins was first off and the man all the others had to chase, but he managed to hold off the chasing pack who were closing up at the end of the 50-minute race.
Nigel Bloor and Nick Blore were the highest handicapped boats and were making good progress up the fleet. At the number four marker buoy down by the roadside, a gaggle of boats were in a no-wind situation on the last lap. Nigel and Nick managed to pass to finish in second and third places respectively.
