21/04/2018
Burghfield open meeting Burghfield Sailing Club

15 Streakers competed in the Burghfield open meeting on April 21^st. It was a light wind day with warm sunshine in the morning giving way to more overcast conditions later. 

In Race 1, Isaac Marsh was soon in the lead with Duncan McDonald close behind. The chasing pack of Kevin Druce, Chris Smith, Veronica Falat, and Mark Langston fought amongst themselves until Veronica pulled clear to take 3^rd place and Mark was 4^th. The wind had been very light and patchy and, as this was a joint event with Solos and Comets, we had to wait for the other boats to complete their races before we could go again – and the Comet fleet was stuck for quite a while in a flat calm. So the OOD gave pity on us and sent everyone in for an early lunch. There were hopes of sailing 3 races in the afternoon but the wind conditions didn’t improve so we only got 2 more.

Race 2 again saw Isaac out in front but he was given a good race by Veronica and Duncan, while James Dawes took 4^th ahead of Kevin Druce and Brenda Hoult. Duncan was the early leader of Race 3 but it was Veronica who managed to overtake and pull clear while Duncan held off Isaac to take 2^nd place. Further back, James was 4^th again with Doug Horner 5^th.

Overall Isaac was the winner but his results won’t count for the Southern Paddle travellers series as he is experimenting with various things that are currently not class legal. Most noticeable is his sail which doesn’t conform to the rule requiring Streaker sails to be white. He is also using a carbon boom and experimenting with means for easier adjustment of the aft mainsheet bridle. These are all matters that no doubt will be agenda items for the class AGM during the Nationals in late June.

Report by Veronica Falat