Following a very successful Opening Day and running of the Commodore’s Cup, the spirit of the HYC keelboat fraternity was further lifted when two yachts made their debut in the first consistency race of the summer season. Bruce Storer with Red Cloud 11, a Beneteau 393 cruiser and Hugh de Vries with Donetes, a Bavaria 41 ft cruiser, swelled the race fleet for the day to 20, and with a potential 12 regular yachts to recommence racing, the future looks bright for keelboat racing.

Stepping in for Keel Captain Tim Tucker, whose whereabouts is up in the air, Rear Commodore Marshall Fox, and committee, delayed the start of the race by 30 minutes allowing the light westerly to settle at around six knots. The G2 course with tight reaching legs between Foam and Anchor, Foam and Beach, Beach and finish suited the division three boats and challenged the others to set and carry shy spinnakers. For those with asymmetrical kites the task was easier, however some were reluctantly doused near the end of the last leg.

Division three were the first to get away led by first over the line Vaya Con Dios (Chris Blackney), however quickest around the course was Lamotrek (John Akers), relishing the tight reaching legs, but had to settle for second on handicap to Intuition (Marc Carpenter) with La Premiere (Ken and Des Luplau) third.

Pinta (Ray Murphy) scored a double with first over the start line and first place on handicap in division two whilst Panache (Geoff James) was quickest of the first three across the finish line; Blue Chip (Keith and Deborah Fisk) second and Covert Operation (Bart Brouwer) third. On handicap, though, behind Pinta was Volant (Emille Janssen, John Ball, Frank Hagemann, Kevin Meta), sailing just two-up, with Blue Chip third.

Perle was first across the start line in division one, however, Sophia (Bruce Utting), in a repeat of the tactical move by Ian Holder on Bad Habits in the Commodore’s Cup, stole the show with a port crossing of the starboard fleet. Seeing the crossing was a possible infringement, Bruce politely asked skippers if they wanted him to tack, but in a gentlemanly fashion they waved him through. Whispering Jack (Bruce Bradford) set fastest time over Mulberry (Mark Pitt) and Bad Habits by a couple of minutes however it was Mulberry first on handicap by eight seconds ahead of Bad Habits with Sophia third.

Many thanks to those in the start management team and Rob James and Chris Blackney for their assistance with photography. Photos are on the Keel cloud.

Discover Sailing Day on Saturday October 19th from 9am to 1pm will provide another opportunity for prospective sailors to go out on keelboats, dinghies or paddle craft and experience the many wonderful opportunities at HYC.

John Bird