Wednesday sailing 29th November 2017

What a pleasant surprise on Wednesday we had 18 skippers on the water sailing in 2 classes.
 
John Cole Cook thought he would give  Wednesday sailing a go which was good keeping the scratch boat skippers on their toes.
 
Peter Germien has returned from the big island to our north and put on a good display of sailing.
 
Ted Laing had his old boat on the water again, thinks it’s better than his new one.
 
Chris Wood also sailed his first Wednesday for a long time.
 
Hopefully they will all to continue to support Wednesday Sailing.
 
As usual the dam had very light to no winds at all early in the morning but around 1130hrs the wind started to freshen just enough to set a course and get some sailing done.
 
Due to some discussion among some of the members last week we decided to sail with 2 fleets with scratch and handicap racing at the same time which saw some good racing in both fleets.  We hope to continue this during the summer season.
 
There were 6 skippers in the scratch events  with 4 skippers getting the gun. 
 
David Jones won the day with 13 points followed by John Cole Cook on 15.  Andrew Wardrop was next on 20 points with Chris Wood and Rod Marshall on 27 points with Stuart Harris on 38.  Ray Joyce sailed one race but was assisting a female member from Swansea radio yacht club with her new boat which Ray has been putting together for her.  He did finish 4th in race 4.
 
In the handicap racing we got in 6 races for the day with 6 different skippers winning on the day.
 
Peter Germien on his first day back won the bottle of plonk on 22 points from John Banks on 18 points. Then followed John Smith 16 points, Wayne Turner 15 points, Tony Brewer 14 points, Our lady visitor ( well coached by Ray) 6 points, Phil Turnbull and Don Mc Loud with 5 points and  Geoff Matthews sailing his DF95 2 points.
 
There could have been more sailing on the day but a committee meeting was starting at 1430hrs so everyone was packed up and gone by 1400hrs. A pity as the breeze was a constant SE  with perfect sailing conditions.
 
I certainly hope to see you all there again next week and maybe a few more members either sailing scratch or handicap.
 
Our Commodore Dave Murfit sailed some early races then offered to PRO for the day.  With both fleets at times finishing at the same time he did a great job getting the right sail numbers on the right sheet. You did a great job Dave.  What will we do when the leg gets better.
 
Regards 
John Banks 
Wednesday Coordinator