Rounds 8 and 9 of the 2023 were held at Eastbourne over the weekend of 7th & 8th of October. Two contrasting days sailing as indicated in the attached report from Race Officer Peter Kemp.
It was probably one of the best weekends of weather at Eastbourne this year, especially for October. A highly competitive fleet of nine boats enthralled spectators over the two days, with over thirty races completed. Tobias Laux won each day, with Sunday being another ‘first’ with all first positions to count after discards! Well done, Tobi!
Entry: There were nine entrants each day, most of whom were registered before Saturday. Competitors came from many clubs across the south of the country.
Weather: Saturday’s forecast was very accurate, starting and finishing with a predominately south westerly force 3 to 5, needing skilled sailing as well as good tactics. 18 races were completed without protests and plenty of time for rig changes and repairs!
Sunday, as forecast, had no wind to start with, but just after an hour’s delay, a decent sea breeze filled in and stayed through to four o’clock. Foregoing lunch another 18 races were completed.
Many thanks go to Jes Collier on Saturday and Dave Allinson on Sunday for moving marks and resetting the course as needed, making the races challenging and enjoyable.
Scoring: No heats were necessary over the two days. Our ‘Racemaster’ race control system, ensured that race results were 100% accurate. Our thanks go to Mike Parris for creating the system.
Protests: No protests were lodged. Thanks go to the club’s race team of starters, finishers and observers; John Crix, Tony Marshall, Rob Ahier, Dave Allinson, Scott Pearce and Rob Shepperd.
Social: The club team provided hot and cold drinks at the waterside, with an après sail beer later back in the clubhouse.
Results
A video of Sundays racing was taken by club member Terry Connell and is available on Youtube:
https://youtu.be/yoewPdCWohc?si=sQX0PqjBBG8hppQ9