Easter Sailing
Published 16:24 on 13 Apr 2023
The 2023 sailing season got off to an excellent start with 3 days of sunshine and pleasant breezes... before the storm arrived on Easter Monday.
On Good Friday around a dozen boats had a useful practice sail with Anna and Olivia Wade standing by in a RIB in case of problems. The wind was non-existent to start with but a sea breeze arrived just in time to blow the cobwebs away and allow crews to check out their boats (and themselves) in benign conditions.
On Easter Saturday Mike and Louise McKerchar with Jane Price assisting ran the first 2 races of the Easter Egg Series. Adam and David Swayne helmed "Wittering Grey" on her first outing as a WWSC Safety Boat (and we have Adam to thank for some great action photos). The conditions were perfect - bright sunshine and a Force 3 southerly. In Race 1 Ann Carnegie's LR Scow "Nellie" with Sam Wells as crew was 1st with Roger Mavity and Ginny Russell 2nd in "Claridges", another LR Scow. Isla Edward's new Topper was 3rd with Guy Russell and Clare Collett's 2000 "Blue Moon" 4th preventing a whitewash by Class 2 sailors. Amazingly 3 boats tied for 5th place with exactly the same corrected time.
In Race 2 the fleet were given a challenging start as the (brand new) Pin mark dragged southwards under the influence of the strong ebb during the start sequence... but maybe this prevented anyone from being over the line! By the end of the race Jem & Nancy Western in their 2000 "Photon" had managed to push Ann and Sam into 2nd place. Chris Gorton crewed by son Oscar and sailing his new 2000 "Upbeat" for the first time was 3rd with Ivan Western's ILCA7 "Trinidad" 4th. Again racing was extremely tight with the corrected times of the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th boats all within a 40 seconds interval.
Easter Sunday saw the same bright sunshine plus a slightly fresher F4 southeasterly. Peter & Judith McKerchar with Daska Lyell assisting once again set the start line off Pilsey and ran 2 excellent races with the single fleet criss-crossing the Harbour over a 2 hour window. Anna Wade and Gabriel Collinson crewed the Safety Boat. With plenty of hiking there were some tired limbs by the end of the racing. In Race 3 Jem & Nancy came 1st with Guy and Clare 2nd. Johnny Lyell, returning to WWSC after too many years sailing elsewhere, showed he hadn't forgotten his way round the Harbour and came 3rd in his ILCA7. Jolyon Western was 4th in his ILCA 6 (Radial) "Ruby". In Race 4 Jem & Nancy managed to repeat their win and, after a protest was resolved, Jolyon was 2nd and Chris Gorton 3rd, and Roger Mavity 4th.
With a forecast of 30 knot plus gusts and rain for Easter Monday (see the plot above), Peter & Judith wisely cancelled the planned races 5 & 6. This meant the highly prized Easter Eggs went to Jem & Nancy (1st), Ann & Sam (2nd), Jolyon (3rd) and Guy & Clare (4th). A special prize Egg was awarded to Oscar Gorton in recognition of his great performance crewing his father's 2000 with asymmetric spinnaker at extremely short notice.
To see all the photos click here.
Last updated 11:01 on 28 March 2024