Gul Final Fling at the Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club

Gul Final Fling in Plymouth © Paul Gibbins

Gul Final Fling in Plymouth © Paul Gibbins

Gul Final Fling in Plymouth © Paul Gibbins

Cold wet and windy, yes the Final Fling was back. Thanks to sponsorship from Gul, the classic Plymouth end of season open event returned hosted by the Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club. As the competitors gathered in the RPCYC on Saturday a 30 knot south westerly was blowing in across the Sound. The forecast predicted a shift to the North West with the wind decreasing so a one hour postponement was signalled.

Once the postponement signal was raised the wind immediately swung and decreased and from the clubhouse things looked somewhat sedate compared to the earlier conditions. With the committee boat located close to the breakwater the wind had increased back to 20 knots by the time the fleet arrived.

The Lark class were the first away and after battling upwind the first reach proved to be a little too boisterous for spinnakers to be flown. Eventually Dougal and Helen Scott would cross the finish line ahead of Nigel Hufton and Adam Owens.

In the handicap class the top three places were filled by 505s who clearly revelled in the conditions. Ben Illiffe and Richard Nurse took the win from Harry Briddon and Adam Kenny. Special mention must be made to Neil Young who managed to complete the course in his Laser with no kicker and suffering from a bent boom after the most spectacular forward roll. With winds gusting up to 30 knots the committee boat and race marks were unable to hold station and with a planned shipping movement due to pass through the course area the race officer sent everyone back ashore.

Gul Final Fling in Plymouth - photo © Paul Gibbins

Sunday dawned a complete contrast and with little to no wind from the north the fleet were sent outside the breakwater to await the forecast south easterly to come. It took the fleet almost 2 hours to sail to the course area set 3/4 mile south of the breakwater and it was not until 11:25 that racing was able to get underway. The breeze varied between 5 and 12 knots and there were plenty of shifts to catch out the unwary. Three short races were held with the last boats finishing at around 2pm. In the lark class it was Nigel Hufton And Adam Owens who took three straight wins from Dougal and Helen Scott.

In the Handicap class it was a day for the slower boats with the Bosun of Dave Adams and Roger Irvine scoring two firsts and a second to take the win from the Tasar of Steve Mitchell and Polly Newman who tied in second place with the 505 of Harry Briddon and Adam Kenny.

Overall Results:

PY Handicap Fleet

Lark Fleet