Hansa Class Travellers' Trophy Round 6 at Baltic Wharf Sailing Club
by Rupert Diffey 26 Jul 2019 11:11 PDT
15 July 2019
Hansa Class Travellers' Trophy at Baltic Wharf © Peter J Farmer
A Monday is an unusual day of the week for AllAboard Watersports and Baltic Wharf Sailing Club to plan an open meeting but with both organisations keen to host the event within what was a busy time for the water, Monday 15th July it was! Volunteers were ready to welcome competitors, some travelling from far and wide. One sailor was in Scotland the day before the event. It was a pleasure for all the volunteers to welcome back sailors with familiar faces and to meet some who had not sailed in Bristol before.
The morning races comprised three Libertys, five Hansa 303 one person class and two Hansa 303 two-person class boats. All competitors were ready for the welcome and briefing and then on the water, ready to go before the first race at 11.00. Conditions were light and hot. Bright sunshine and low winds dominated the day making each race an endurance of temperature and the challenge of getting the most out of the light breeze.
Libertys were off first with David Durston (3144) making an excellent start to the first mark with a comfortable lead. The course, because of the light conditions was kept to a straightforward anticlockwise circuit. David maintained his lead for the first lap, over thirteen minutes later and went on to complete the first race in first position. Tessa Watkiss (1010) and Alison Grant (3145) did extremely well to recover some ground and with Tessa finishing in second place.
During race 1 the 303 single-handers and double-handers left the line together Mike Everitt (2554) making it over the line first followed closely by David Jolliffe and Angela Cossford (2054) Jessica lost the wind on a port tack but recovered beautifully to begin the course in third position. The small puffs of wind came and went and the lead 303 completed the first lap in 11.34 minutes. David and Angela managed to maintain a lead throughout the race as did Mike.
Following lunch the conditions improved as the wind filled in to a gentle breeze with some stringer gusts in places. Only two Libertys competed and as the race developed the wind died down to almost nothing. David again led the race with Tessa making a spirited attempt to catch him. At one point it seemed that she might succeed, making good use of a lift. David was over the line first with Tessa just over a minute behind him.
The 303s made a good start in race two followed by a period of no wind and some competitors had a frustratingly long attempt to gain some momentum in virtually no wind. The beginning of the third and fourth race saw the wind picking up again and Mike Everitt and Jessica Campbell (2464) began an exciting challenge to break free and lead the race. Mike completed penalty turns for a protest from Jessica but managed to recover lost time and complete the race in first position with Jessica competing to the last!
The Liberty sailors decided that in the heat and low winds a fourth race was not in their best interests. David received first place for the Liberty boats, Mike for the 303 single-hander and David/Angela for the 303 double-hander. Well done to them and indeed all of the competitors. After a break for tea it was great to see them receive recognition for their skills in a spirit of humour, sportsmanship and friendship.