Illusion Racing at Bembridge Sailing Club
by Rudy Jurg 17 Jan 2012 21:27 PST
14-15 January 2012
Illusion racing in Bembridge © Rudy Jurg
No trophy to race for this weekend but still counting towards seasons points 17 Illusions came out to race. The water temperature is dropping and most people are now wearing additional kit such as thermal hats, gloves and skiing goggles.
On Saturday in a light East South Easterly breeze a long course was set was set across the harbour. Due to the prevailing wind direction big shifts could be encountered and it was Mark Downer who read the wind best and scored two bullets in the first two races. In race three it was Edmund Peel who has been fine tuning his boat over the past few weeks to score first place.
Mid-fleet there was plenty of place changing and at the bottom gate lots of places were gained and lost with 4-6 boats trying to round the marks at the same time in most races. Consistency paid and Graham Bailey was overall leader after 3 races.
On Sunday the breeze was much colder and stronger but from the same direction. Real Illusion sailing weather. Left hand side of the start line and course was favoured so busy at this end of the line. In a strong breeze Mark Downer always performs and he did not disappoint and took the first gun of the day. Edmund Peel who is equally tall like Mark Downer flies downwind to take a comfortable second place. James Meaning who usually only sails in light winds and sunshine but made an exception on this day came in third.
Just before race two Graham Bailey was seen eating Sunday lunch with knife in fork onboard to give him some extra energy and shot of the start line to win with a big lead on number 2 which was Edmund Peel again.
In the last race of the day it was chaos at the pin end with all the leaders wanting the left hand of course were the wind was stronger and more stable. A bit of luck was needed to come out of this mess with a number of boats making contact but it was again Graham Bailey who got away winning the last race, no substitute for experience. After some place changing Rupert Holmes came second and Mark Downer third.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Helm | Sail No | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Graham Bailey | 132 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | Mark Downer | 124 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 10 |
| 3 | Edmund Peel | 37 | R | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 14 |
| 4 | James Meaning | 31 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 18 |
| 5 | Julia Bailey | 157 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 23 |
| 6 | Rupert Holmes | 47 | S | 9 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 27 |
| 7 | Justin Biddle | 40 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 29 |
| 8 | Rudy Jurg | 26 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 30 |
| 9 | Jo Downer | 123 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 40 |
| 10 | Richard Ambler | 156 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 10 | R | 51 |
| 11 | Andy Christie | 149 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 10 | 12 | R | 55 |
| 12 | Robin Ebsworth | 12 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 56 |
| 13 | Philip Woodford | 158 | 9 | 14 | 11 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 60 |
| 14 | | 801 | 12 | 16 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 61 |
| 15 | Kas Schmidt | 26ltb | S | 15 | 17 | 14 | S | 13 | 77 |
| 16 | Nick Wakefield | 152 | S | 12 | 14 | S | S | S | 80 |
| 17 | Andrew Milliband | 105 | 11 | 17 | 16 | S | S | S | 80 |