Solo open meeting at Island Barn Reservoir Sailing Club

Solo open meeting at Island Barn 2020 © Nick Marley

Island Barn limited entries to 20 boats for the Solo Open meeting, filling the quota two days before the meeting. With the cold wind and at least one sailor having to isolate at the last minute racing got under way with sixteen boats on the line.

The day had dawned bright and sunny but there was a cold blustery North-Westerly wind rather than the more typical SW. Lots of blue sky and sparking water but also lots of big gusts. Race one got off without incident and the front runners quickly showed their mettle navigating the blustery shifts to quickly spread the fleet. Tom Gillard (5675) stamped his authority on the race although Vince Horey and Jonny Wells kept him on his toes.

The start of the second race was quickly recalled as half the fleet were over and had the race officer thinking about black flags. Second attempt was abandoned when the wind shifted just as the sequence was starting, causing much frantic moving of marks only for the wind to largely switch back.

Solo open meeting at Island Barn 2020 - photo © Nick Marley

With a cold wind and the fleet opting for three back to back races because no nice warm clubhouse available in these pandemic times, the Race Officer flexed his muscles and raised the Jolly Roger (well that's a mostly black flag isn't it) and the fleet bowed to the pressure (resetting the line several times might have also helped).

Anyway, third attempt the fleet got away but this time Tom didn't have it all his own way and the slightly shorter beat saw him rounding the first mark third just ahead of a rather large group...

There was a lot of shouting just behind him as the shifty wind caught a few people out as they suddenly found they couldn't quite lay... but your correspondent didn't hear any actual collisions.

Solo open meeting at Island Barn 2020 - photo © Nick Marley

Race two also saw a few casualties as tiring sailors encountered some strong gusts, but the leaders revelled in the conditions.

Tom continued to pull clear gently covering the fleet making race three somewhat academic for the overall, but behind him for the rest of the podium it was game on. While a few tired sailors called it a day the rest flew round the course again resulting in final placing of Tom Gillard first with a clean set of bullets, second overall secured by Simon Derham and Mike Dray third. Points were very close reflecting the tricky conditions.

Overall Results:

Solo open meeting at Island Barn 2020 - photo © Nick Marley