ILCAs at the Queen Mary Summer Series Week 8
by Andy Osmasta 24 Jul 18:47 NZST
21 July 2024
21 ILCAs eventually found their way down to the distant committee boat starting line at the very far end of the reservoir. The race officer had taken advantage of the nice 7 to 12 knots NW breeze to set an excellent course making full use of our big expanse of water with a good long beat.
The forecast had suggested that there could be a shift towards the west and this duly arrived to give a distinct pin end bias as the boats lined up for the start. The inevitable general recall followed and the second start began with the "U" flag to discourage the more excitable starters from getting to the line too early. With the pin end still strongly favoured everyone tacked off immediately onto port and any failure to be bang on the line soon resulted in dirty air from the leading boats.....as I duly discovered.
With no option but to tack off behind the port starters at virtually right angles to the course I feared my race may be pretty much over, but eventually after tacking on a few shifts and finding some clear air I found myself with a decent approach to the windward mark. Just Guy Noble coming in from the left looked likely to save me from report writing duties, but he selfishly chose to round behind me, followed I think by Orlando Gledhill and Tony Woods. Roger, O'Gorman, normally renowned for his spectacular premature starts had found himself in the most unusual position of being late, but had also worked his way up from the back to round with the leaders.
Having failed to untangle the mainsheet before rounding I set off down the run on a slightly higher course to Orlando and Guy, but as they robustly discussed who should go where to maximise their position, I concentrated on minimising any tiller action to manage to round the leeward mark ahead. The beat found us all on a favoured starboard tack virtually in line as the windward mark approached.
Tony was sailing his nice clean crisp sail instead of his usual brown dishrag and put it to good use as he steadily moved ahead of myself and Orlando. Marshall King had moved up to join Roger and both also found good boat-speed down to leeward. With the wind starting to head I was first to tack off onto port hoping for a following shift back again, but no luck there as the lower boats lifted up to the mark making it a first to fifth horror show.
Close sailing in the shifting breeze followed and buoyed by some new found confidence in my boat speed in these conditions I managed to avoid panic as Roger held his position to finish first followed by Marshall. Orlando's skill and experience were no match for my lighter weight as I held on ahead of him to finish third, with Tony finishing fifth followed by a rapid Marcus Bird who had climbed his way through the fleet and was hoping for another lap.
The second race got away cleanly and by about halfway up the beat, the fleet seemed to have largely split into a larger group to the left and another group out to the right. I found myself more to the right and then started to get a steady lift on port which was not what I wanted down below the mark. However, an approaching band of dark water gave some hope and having hung on I was rewarded with both more breeze and a wind shift to allow a tack onto starboard. As a result I was able to round close to a leading group that included, in no particular order, Tony, Marshall, David Surkov, Richard Gray and Aaron.
The racing remained tight and with three laps done and 45 odd minutes elapsed, Tony thought his stress was over. However, the race continued for the full four laps, but he managed to survive the subsequent lap and late shift on the final beat to retain first place. Close behind they finished Richard, Aaron, Marshall and then David safely ahead of me.
A great day's sailing with Tony and Marshall showing the way with consistent first and fifth and second and fourth respectively and thanks as ever to the race officer Adam Wickenden and team for making it all possible.
Full results