11/08/2018
Broxbourne open meeting Broxbourne Sailing Club

Report by Ian Bradley

Broxbourne SC hosted a joint open meeting for Streakers and Lightning 368s as part of the Streaker Southern Paddle series, sponsored by P&B Sails.

The forecast of a south-westerly of 6mph proved unreliable, as the Race Officer briefed the fleets he revealed that the wind was variable and shifting between east-south-easterly and westerly.

The Race Officer set a course around the main lake for the fleet of 12, and took the highly unorthodox step of moving the first windward mark closer to the start line as there was more wind in the new position! The first start saw your correspondent take an early lead, rounding the first mark closely followed by Veronica Falat and Duncan McDonald. Bradley and Falat swapped the lead a few times during the race once they had broken away from McDonald due to a convenient gust that he didn’t get, and although he was making up ground on them he couldn’t catch them before their final tacking battle on the way to the finish line. Bradley came out on top by a length or two after the inevitable wind shift worked in his favour.

Race two followed a lunch hour where we sat and watched the wind that had filled in as soon as we finished. As the wind had changed significantly the RO swung the windward marks round to suit the new direction and set up a line that could just be sailed. A timely wind shift put paid to that in the final minute before the start, and the fleet all started on port and fetched to the first mark, Falat in the lead from McDonald, Graham Butler and Bradley. Again the two leaders pulled away and had their own race, swapping the lead as shifts dictated, as did Butler and Bradley behind them. At the end it was Falat who took the win from McDonald after a final tacking duel, and Bradley took third. This left the final race to be the decider between the three of them.

Race three followed close on from race two. A large shift immediately after the gun saw Falat and McDonald take off like scalded Streakers straight for the windward mark, while Bradley found himself buried at the back of the fleet, never to catch the two leaders. McDonald gave it his best, leading for much of the race and pressing Falat hard for the remainder, but ultimately lost out to Falat’s consistent sailing. This left Veronica Falat the overall winner, with Bradley second and McDonald third.