Week 3 Report

Photographs courtesy and Copyright David Gates, The Dinghy Store

Sunday 16th Feb saw the competitors arriving to much cooler conditions than the previous 2 weeks with the air temperature hovering around freezing! The breeze was a nice 10 to 13 knots from the ESE but swinging about.

The Race Officer decide that due to the wind direction the area that the start line would be set was going to cause difficulties if a finish line was set in the same area, so a change to the sailing instructions was posted adding an extra leg to the course. That is competitors had a beat to the finish line.

*Hourly climatic information from Heathrow Airport*
Time	Temp (C)	Speed (mph)	Direction	Comment
10:00	1	12	E	Haze
11:00	2	12	ESE	Haze
12:00	3	12	E	Haze
13:00	3	9	E
14:00	3	10	E
15:00	4	9	ENE
16:00	3	?	ENE
17:00	2	8	ENE

Following the General Recalls of last week the Race Officer brought the 'I' flag in for all starts. The only casualty was a very experienced competitor who was over the line very early and did not exonerate themselves correctly.

The fluctuations in wind direction kept the competitors working hard to take best advantage.

After the first start of the second race of the day was under way a large wind shift caused the Race Officer to abandon the race for the boats already started. The wind then swung back to the original direction! So after a short delay Race 2 sequence got underway again.

After racing a protest was heard concerning the previous weeks second race, Race 4 of the series. One of the competitors in the Asymmetric start protested all other boats for sailing the incorrect course. Following the hearing all boats bar one where disqualified. The saga is set to continue next week because one of the boats disqualified has submitted a request for redress.

The series finishes next Sunday, February 23rd, and every thing is still in the melting pot because if one more race is sailed a second discard comes into play. For the Asymmetric competitors there is the outcome of the Request for Redress that will affect the results.

Any reports from competitors welcomed for inclusion.