Saturday 1st July 2007

Eleven Streakers started the first race cleanly after the long beat and reach down the river in a rising force 4 from the South. Despite much discussion between boats before the start, no one including the local boats knew which red mark was the first one, so had to follow the lead boat until it became clear. Graham Nelson (Ouse Amateur) was first to this elusive mark closely followed by clubmate Ian Bradley. At the end of the following reach uncertainty caused by a fleet of Miracles caused Nelson to capsize allowing Bradley to take a lead which was never threatened. In the pack a number of boats succumbed to the testing conditions, but Dave O’Riordan (Deben YC) and Ian Mansfield (Ardleigh) led the remaining finishers while the safety boats mopped up the casualties.

Race two saw a further increase in wind strength to 5 and even 6 at times which didn’t deter the remaining boats from going for the start line. A second clean start saw the fleet tightly bunched until boats began to tack off. Nelson again showed his love of stronger winds putting in a solid performance, but it was down to Jonny Shuster (Deben YC) to chase Bradley to the line. Alan Simmons (Lancing) came in fourth followed by Cathie Shuster (Deben YC) who was the only person not to capsize all day!

Although Bradley had now won the meeting, Jonny was looking forward to having another pop at him, and so was most disappointed when the committee abandoned racing due to the excessive number of capsized or damaged boats. The windy broad reach and run back to the clubhouse were enjoyed by all except Graham Nelson, who found a submerged island to run aground on.

Results: 1st Ian Bradley (2 pts) 2nd Graham Nelson (8 pts) 3rd Cathie Shuster (9 pts) 4th Alan Simmons (11 pts) 5th Dave Shuster (13 pts)