Last Saturday promised to be brisk and did not disappoint – those brave sailors who took part in the Tony Bennett trophy were treated to a range of conditions from exhilarating to challenging, and the younger members of the club who were racing certainly put the rest of us to shame!
We commiserate with Emma Stevenson who broke the mast on her Laser, giving some indication of how gusty it got under the Spring thermal cloud driven off the land by a lively gradient – something that the configuration of Weymouth Bay can deliver in the Spring when the air temperature is still low.
Wisely, Rima Bugler had called off their outing in the Merlin, so she, Mark and I went off down the coast in ‘Aliya’, and met with another squall off Bat's Head which we reckoned blew 7 for a bit, though a Nic32 is a bit different from a Laser in those conditions! The gaffer we met coming up towards Weymouth seemed perfectly happy in what to her probably counted as a mere ‘capful of wind’. The hailstorm that came over when we were all safely in the club demonstrated just how unpleasant these conditions can be, especially later in the afternoon.
A clean pair of heels shown by Iain Jones and Paul Withers in 'Speculator' gave them the trophy, though everyone who turned out can share in the honour of getting round. Let us hope that with the full racing programme now operational, the weather will agree that Spring has actually arrived and that rather more boats will be in evidence on the water…
Steve Fraser
Cruiser Class Captain
