Results / SEAS Event 4 Wembley - 06/05/2007

Sunday the 6^th of May dawned bright and breezy which inspired 12 RS200’s to make the trip to Wembley to join the 13 home boats for the SEAS open. Those who attended were greeted with great sailing conditions, a wonderfully warm reception, fabulous race officering, a tasty lunch and delicious afternoon tea. Best of all entry was only £10.

Wembley SC is set just off the North Circular and overlooked by the now impressive Wembley Stadium. With the wind blowing almost straight down the lake it was possible to set a testing beat and tactically challenging run. Unusually for the 200 fleet there were no general recalls during the weekend, perhaps due to the slight port bias in the line which kept the fleet spread out. Indeed only a couple of competitors were caught out with an OCS which meant for a busy first beat as the 25 boats quickly spread across the available water. It was particularly pleasing to see so many competitors sailing with young crews or indeed boats crewed entirely by youths or younger sailors. Although the breeze was blowing down the lake there were enough shifts and changes in wind strength to make the sailing extremely interesting and keep everyone on their toes. It was really a day for second guessing the wind and trying to keep your eyes out of the boat.

The conditions were such that many of the competitors experienced some great planning downwind and a few decided that the water was too inviting to miss a little dip. This all added up to some broad smiles on the faces of those who took part. The racing was tight through out the fleet with a great deal of place changing at all times. Those who finished in the top 3 showed excellent consistency with Katrina Gilbert and her crew, finishing in third overall after having two great races before lunch and Andy/Gill Peters having two great races post lunch that saw them finish in second place. The winner was Steve Dunn and Rachel Jones who completed a hat trick of wins and finished the regatta on 3 points and an OCS – oopppsss. Congratulations go right down the fleet to those who were sailing very well and clearly having great fun.