ENJOY! Final Day Report Friday saw a glorious morning for the final show down between Robertson’s and Downer/price who were fighting it out for 1st place tied on points and George/Mitchell and Farbrother/Martin who are playing the discard game to see who will clinch 3rd place and who will drop out of the medals to 4th. After a delay to wait for the ever anticipated Ora Wind race 8 began on the usual course in a moderate 12 knots. Right on the start the wind shifted hard left giving an enormous bias which was taken first by James and Izzi in 1344 pushing out in to the lead on port. As the rest of the fleet tacked it became a march to the windward mark on port. As the boats headed further up the course the breeze strengthened favouring the heavier crews and those who understand wave sailing. By the windward mark it was Howard and Dan in 1251 who had powered past James and Izzi to round in first place just ahead of the Gurnard Crew of James and Jon in 1321. Third place went to 1319 Robertson’s followed by 1351 Ian Robson and Sandy Johnson Steve Restall and Chris Stubbs in 574 and those Dutch Party – Suicide Shot drinkers - the History boys in William the conqueror (1066) Richard Graham-Enock and Roland Walker, and Keith Bedborough and Martin Mcsupercrew in “Mid-Day” 1200. With the lack of a true ora the fleet took a starboard downwind leg down the middle of the lake, James and Izzi took a flyer of a gybe heading hard left in to the cliffs, Howard and Dan were to also follow with James and Jon in 1321 also pushing in to the cliffs now in first position. As all the boats reached the downwind mark, James and Jon in 1321 turned the port side gate to head in to the cliffs in first with Howard and Dan in 1251 in second closely followed by Stuart and Sarah Roberson who took the Starboard side gate in 3rd. James and Izzi reached the mark in 4th place with the rest of the fleet trailing by some 50 boat lengths having lost out in lighter breeze in the middle of the lake. The final order seemed set in stone until the last 50 yards where the wind completely died and spinnaker was dowsed by Downer/Price to drift towards victory. 1251 took a wide port tack in to a big wind hole which allowed 1319 and 1344 to make up ground rapidly. The final results were 1321James Downer/Jon Price in first place taking a well-deserved victory in the final race, 1251 Howard Farbrother/Dan Martin taking second by a boat length from 1319 Stuart and Sarah Robertson in 3rd ahead of 1344 James George and Izzi Mitchell in 4th. The fleet all succumbed to the inevitable wind hole forcing the race to last the full 30 minutes from the first finisher. It is with note how some kept their cool and managed to gain a place or two such as Max Tossetti and Chris Stanton in 1031. A second race was planned and the fleet took a long and arduous trip down the lake to the 500 course in search for wind but after 2 hours of waiting and 2 false starts by the RS200 fleet the days racing was abandoned leaving only race 8 to count for the day. The final results all came down to discards and saw James Downer and Jon Price score only 9 points across the week taking a well-deserved victory for the Eurocup, Stuart and Sarah Robertson in close second with 11 points and Howard Farbrother and Dan Martin in 3rd on countback with 21 points pushing James and Izzi in to 4th place and Barrie and Harriet Thornton 1172 in to 5th. A fantastic weeks sailing had by all and once again no matter what the position of the boat Garda delivered close competitive racing, great socials, good food, great weather (at times) and fantastic memories. See you soon Fraglia Vella Riva. James George
Loads of photos available - see http://www.flickr.com/photos/gardainfoto/sets/72157630814988006/
And the Magic Marine video is on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoXaEzD8JSQ
The second upwind was to prove a complete port bias giving the advantage to 1321 and 1251 as the powered in to a distant lead from 1319 and 1344 and the rest of the fleet. The final downwind was also a procession with 1344 pushing as hard as possible to catch 1319 and 1319 trying to catch both 1321 and 1251 to maintain their winning position.
