12/09/2008 Red Funnel Weekend - 5th/6th September Saturday saw strong winds of 25 knots with gusts up to 35 knots. The Island Sailing Club race committee sensibly abandoned early on any attempt to start from a committee boat and moved to holding a single race from a shoreline start but even that was not enough to entice some competitors out onto the water. In the end , only Njord and Norbert ventured out, each taking out a potential new owner for a baptism by fire (or more accurately something akin to a fire hose).
Njord, with guest helm Richard Ottoway, dealt best with the testing conditions (see the Cowes on-line video showing some great downwind action here: http://www.cowes.co.uk/zonexml/story?story_id=5182;cp=0 ) and stretched out to an early lead that Norbert was unable to challenge and that was how they finished before returning to the Island SC for what all agreed to be the best afternoon tea of the season so far.
Sunday saw lighter winds and 5 boats turned out racing for two Red Funnel windward/leeward races. The first race saw Norbert and Njord start from the committee boat end with Rackham taking the pin end. The committee boat end proved to be the right choice with Norbert and Njord taking first and second at the first mark and they had a close tussle all the way around with Rackham closing up some of the lost ground. The short final beat to the finish line produced the most action with both Njord and Rackham tacking several times to clear their air. Norbert held onto win but Njord let Rackham through for second having mistakenly headed back to the start line rather than the finish on the other side of the committee boat. Cavalier was just behind in fourth and Supremacy sailing only two up was fifth.
The second race saw all boats going for the committee boat end with Rackham shutting out Njord to win the start with Cavalier alongside and a couple of boat lengths to leeward. Norbert rounded behind Rackham and tacked straight off to the right of the beat, a move which moved them in front of Rackham. A tack by Norbert in front of Rackham as the boats approached the first windward mark saw Rackham having to tack off, letting Cavalier through so Norbert rounded first, Cavalier second, Rackham third with Njord right behind them and back in the running.
From there, Norbert was never to be caught and made it two out of two on the day to take an early lead in the Late Season Series. Njord worked back up to second and Cavalier, having been passed by Rackham on the final leg managed to get their bow back in front on the final tack into the finish to take third. With 10 races now sailed in the Red Funnel series, Njord still holds a commanding lead with only 14 points, Cavalier is second with 32 points and Supremacy third with 41 points. The final round of the Red Funnel will be raced on the weekend of 4/5 October.
Jubilee Cup
A reminder that this weekend is the Jubilee Cup. Two IMPORTANT things to remember:
1. The first start on Saturday is 1 HOUR EARLIER, with the first warning signal at 12:20.
2. We are welcoming our Gold Cup heroes (and heroine) home with a Champagne reception at 5pm on Saturday at the Cowes Corinthian YC.
