This trophy is sailed for over two days, but Saturday’s race involved only one dinghy. It was Martin Dixon and Andy Brown who were keen (or mad enough) to sail in a Force 3 gusting 5-6, plus blizzards. They managed a single lap, and for a few minutes the clubhouse disappeared in clouds of hail and snow.
Sunday started off in a similar fashion, weather-wise. One has to be a keen sailor to set off from home in a blizzard and when everyone first arrived at the club it was still snowing. It soon cleared though and the wind settled to a steady 2-3 north westerly, with the occasional gust to make life interesting. This time, two Enterprises - Martin Dixon crewed by Kerstin Exner and Gareth Llewellyn crewed by James Wright - and Robin Johnson in his Laser launched.
The beat down to No 6 was led by Robin, closely followed by Martin and Gareth, but on the run back the short beat turned into a planing reach and Robin took off and rounded No 2, laid close to Hammersmith Bridge on the Surrey side, well ahead of Martin and Kerstin. Unfortunately, before reaching No 1 buoy on the Middlesex bank Robin was overpowered on the beat and made a spectacular back flip and somersault (without double salko) landing some six feet away from the Laser. The ducking allowed Martin to overtake and as Robin was swept past the mark he had to return and fight against the tide to round it.
On the second lap, Gareth and James managed to capsize on the run back to No 2 buoy and was then swept onto the bank, prompting much fun and games before Richard Wood and Andy Brown in the Safety Boat pulled them off and then gave them a tow back to the pontoon.
In the meantime, Martin finished first, hotly pursued by Robin.
At the start of the second race, Martin had the misguided idea that he was over the line and started to return to the start before he realised that he was not. By then, Robin had established a good lead which he maintained for the rest of the race. However, he managed to keep us on the edge of our seats as he capsized while rounding No 2, but this time shot out onto the daggerboard and righted the Laser immediately, taking all of four seconds to get sailing again and finishing first across the line. Martin crossed the line in second place, but after calculating the results the Race Officer declared that Martin had won by three seconds on handicap.
Results:by Beverley Beech
Copyright © London Corinthian Sailing Club, March 2008