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Topper Winters - a personal view |
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Written by Fiona Tylecote
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Monday, 01 March 2010 |
The Winter Regatta was on the 20th and 21st of February. With a good morning on Saturday the racing was ready to get underway after a quick postponement due to the lack of wind. After the slight hiccup, the first start signal was raised. I was in the first start which is not always the best as there is no fleet to show you which end is the bias. When the start gun went I was lying in the top 10 which was a good start as I had managed to pop out the front. By the end of the first race I ended 8th which was a pretty good result.
The wind stayed light but steady for the second race. Again I was in the first start. Fortunately I reacted very quickly to a wind shift making it massively port bias and managed to port flyer the fleet.(The best feeling in the world). Amazingly I was first round the windward mark but a few mistakes made me second by the leeward mark. Fortunately the rest of the race was good and I only finished just behind the winner.
The end of the first day saw me in 8th but all of Rutland were doing well. Altogether, we had three in the top 50. The Sunday of the event saw a huge downpour of snow and several competitors couldn't make it. The wind was about the same but this time we raced just outside the clubhouse instead of up near the dam. This was good for the parents as it would be a lot easier to see everyone. |
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The first race of the day got underway and with another great start I was round the windward mark in 3rd. Unfortunately, as the windward mark was closer than I had expected I lost a place but a 4th was another counter in my series. Luckily, I now had a pretty decent series so any thing worse would not matter as it would be a discard.
The wind picked up to 12 knots in the last race which benefitted the slightly heavier sailors. In the last race I got squeezed out at the start and rounded the windward mark in the 60s. I managed to fight back but by the end I had only managed 20th.
As the fleet headed in. I was wondering if I had managed to keep a top 10 result. I rushed to the results and after three races I was fourth. Unfortunately a discard was then used and I dropped three places to 7th. Still an amazing result compared to my last year's results. Now I can't wait for the season to start. It'll be great.
Written by Bradley Hilton. |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 01 March 2010 )
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