A weekend of two halves at Pwllheli Sailing Club's Autumn Challenge series
by Vicky Cox 30 Sep 09:23 PDT
Elan 350 'Finally' - Autumn Challenge series at Pwllheli © Nick Smith
Pwllheli's Challenge series has certainly been a challenge so far with storms starting to batter the west coast and 2 races cancelled. This weekend was a challenging weekend of two halves.
Saturday's racing started in 20-25kts Southeasterly. As always in Pwllheli, easterlies whip up the waves creating difficult conditions and a number of boats experienced issues and headed straight back in without racing. Although the heavy rain that was forecast had stopped before the race, the waves ensured that it was a very wet day on the water!
Race officer Robin Evans sent the fleet east to mark no 7 off Gimblet Rock Holiday Park which had a good view of some very close racing. Dave Eddowes's Quattro got the best start with the rest of the fleet struggling to get to the start line on time in the conditions. Will Partington's Andromeda was the next to round the mark, closely followed by Mojito.
Once round the mark, Peter Dunlop & Victoria Cox's J122e Mojito capitalised on the upwind leg, together with some timely wind shifts, to overtake Andromeda. By this time, Quattro were well ahead but were forced to retire after a couple of marks into the race.
As the remaining boats returned back in towards the beach at the west end they all decided to err on the side of caution and no spinnakers were on show even though speeds of over 15kts were noted downwind in the increasing breeze.
Without a spinnaker hoist on Mojito, Andromeda were allowed to keep close behind but after a sail along south beach back to the finish, there was enough distance for Mojito to take the win on handicap. Andromeda took 2nd and Paul & Sam Kitteringham's Elan 350 Finally took 3rd.
For the second race Robin sent the fleet along Abererch beach to club mark number 10 at Pen-y-Chain before heading out to mark number 5 and back in to the west end and the podium places were the same as the first race.
In contrast to Saturday's racing, Sunday started with brilliant sunshine and winds less than 4 kts east southeast but the ripples on the water indicated that it was filling in and clocking right through the day. Robin set a course around the club marks starting with mark number 6 to the south east. Mojito and Andromeda were on the line at the start with Mojito to wind. There was no hesitation hoisting kites once rounds the mark, with the only question being which one would be more appropriate for the shifting winds.
Again there was some very close racing between Mojito and Andromeda, 1st and 2nd to reach the line respectively. However, just 93seconds separated the top four boats on corrected time with J70 Mojito Bach taking 1st place. Andromeda were safe in 2nd spot, while Mojito had to settle for joint 3rd with Nigel Ingram's Darling.
Race two took the fleet south east and back in to Gimblet Rock Holiday park followed by a series of upwind or close reaching legs out of the bay and down wind back into the shore. Mojito and Andromeda got good starts but Mojito let Mojito Bach in on the line allowing Mojito Bach to take the lead and reach the mark first. Down wind and a delayed drop by Mojito Bach allowed both Mojito and Andromeda to go ahead.
Further back into the fleet there was one close racing between Dave Eddowes's Quattro and Paul Kitteringham's Finally with just 8 seconds separating them at the finish, but it was Mojito followed by Andromeda taking the first two places on both elapsed and corrected. 3rd on the podium were J70 Mojito Bach.
Mojito currently have a clear lead at the top but the weekend brought discards in to play and with more discards to follow there is no certainty to the final series result. There is definitely still time to join the series with the next weekend on 11th and 12th October.
Pwllheli Sailing Club are holding an Autumn supper to complement the weekend, open to cruisers, racers, skippers and crew. A chance to discuss the years adventures along with future racing and cruising plans.
More information, race results and the Autumn supper booking form can be found at www.pwllhelisailingclub.co.uk