With 18 competing boats and 17 launched for Race 1 into a forecast Force 5-6, and the casualties mounted even before the start line! Pat O’Neill (CY&BC) broke his boom and returned to shore, followed by 2 others, so that left 14. The race started at 2.30, three rounds of a windward – leeward course as the wind rose and the waves became steeper…. capsizes and gear failures gradually whittled down the numbers, leaving only 6 finishers – Sutton Dinghy Club 1, 2, 3 with Alan Henry/Simon Revill taking the gun ahead of Alan Carr/Diarmuid Brody and Charles Sargent with granddaughter Caoimhe Fleming 3rd.
The seventh survivor (163 Philip Hackett CYBC) reached the finish line just after the 25-minute time limit. Needless to say, the second race scheduled for today was sensibly cancelled – competitors headed for shore without waiting for the Race Officer to hoist any signals!
Forecast for tomorrow is very bad – unlikely we will be going afloat unless something changes – decision at 8.30 am for the day. Saturday looking much better, we will probably sail 3 races to give us one discard and a championship result.