Saturday was looking like champagne sailing conditions until the hints of a sea breeze swung the wind left and led to postponement while the race committee battled the shifts and relaid the course.
All of Saturday was raced under U flag with most boats still pushing the line hard, which managed to catch out 2 boats in the first start. A tidal change during the day, shifting to wind vs tide caused bumpy chop that was challenging to maintain speed through when the wind was down, with plenty of gear changes occurring.
The weather conditions were forecast similarly for Sunday but this time the sea really breeze wreaked havoc. The second race was in particular a challenge, with 60 degree wind shifts every other minute up the first beat. Ziggy managed to get the best of the first after heading out right and led round the windward mark very comfortably. The last 100m of the race was interrupted by a 180 degree wind shift, leading to gybes and dropping kites to head upwind to the finish; this caused boats to jump and drop places like flies. Beyond this the wind behaved, no tidal change during the racing meant a flat and calm sea.
Regatta Winner was Chris Hampton on Tango, 2nd David Bromilow on Ziggy, 3rd Shaun Frohlich on Exabyte
David Bromilow was also 1st Corinthian and 1st Youth Boat
Huge thanks to the PRO Phil Hagan and the Royal Thames Yacht Club race committee, who managed to fit in an entire series in challenging conditions.
