Two days racing at last!

After the first three events this season being cut short by a lack of wind, the 29 800’s that travelled to Datchet were pleased to get two days of racing. Four races were sailed on Saturday in a shifty 10 to 20 knots, and one race was sailed on Sunday in an equally shifty 2 to 7 knots from the opposite direction.

Rob Watson and John Clifton were in fine form for the first race tearing away from the pack with Ben McGrane and Olivier Vidal. McGrane and Vidal crossed the line first with Watson and Clifton in second, and Neil Baker and Uzi ‘mini guns’ Hughes in third.

McGrane and Vidal took the bullet again in the second, while Ben Schooling and George Kingsnorth had their best result of the day in second. Roger Gilbert made a fleeting visit back to the 800 fleet this weekend and finished the second race in third with a crew altogether more familiar with the boat, Roz Allen.

The wind had piped up for the third race, and there was to be lots of drama in the middle of the fleet. Giles Bradford and Julia Lonnie of the Royal Navy Sailing Association, confused by their day jobs, had lined up David Pike and Fiona Lockwood in their sights. Both boats capsized at the final gybe mark, and two boats behind with nowhere to go followed suit. Bradford and Lonnie completed their penalty and snuck across the line ahead of Pike and Lockwood.

Derek and Elaine Buchanan had storming fourth race and only dropped back from third after a tricky leeward mark rounding. They finished in sixth, which was more than enough to win the Silver Fleet. Baker and Hughes had an eventful fourth race as summed up by Spod Olive ‘full marks for er, you know, capsizing when 3^rd, and you know, not er, losing any places, and also making camp calling noises whilst waving across the water “Spoddy, you whoooo!”’ Andrew Gould and Michael Frogley had a great race finishing in fourth.

McGrane and Vidal obviously didn’t have enough fun on Saturday night and and that allowed them to sail a sly race in the light conditions on Sunday to sail around the leading boats and finished their series with a first that would later be discarded. Hughes was not so cheerful as Spod Olive and Guy Fillmore sailed past on their way to a second.

McGrane and Vidal sailed a perfect series to win overall, followed by Baker and Hughes. Guy Fillmore, sailing with Olive, would later regret his announcement in the briefing of the new fleet protocol: those that finish third are responsible for writing the report.