Weymouth Regatta 2019 - 13-14 July

Day one was a day of three halves… The fleet was sent out into the bay in hope of catching some breeze and was greeted with flat water and no wind. After a brief postponement, racing got underway. EJ had a late start as she was stuck in irons with ten seconds to go until the start. Poppy finding gears, and Marmite and Usagi both fighting for first place with King Tubby left behind looking at bums. After a becalmed kite run the wind picked up, a very small amount, for the second race. Marmite and Usagi have a close start, fighting to keep their lanes. Poppy takes the pin end of the line hoping for clear air, taking the right side up the beat, neck and neck with Usagi for much of the leg. Poppy reaches the top mark first, closely followed behind Usage and Marmite. Poppy keeps her lead for 1.5 laps but unfortunately decapitates an enormous Jellyfish at the bottom mark, resulting in a near capsize! Both Marmite and Usage overtake and Poppy settles for third. Race three, the sea breeze kicks in and all boats have the best starts of the day, Poppy out back as her main sail batten pops out of the luff on the first beat and EJ has trouble with ….. something …… which forces her to retire and head in early, beating the rush for the showers. At the end of day one, Usagi sits in first place, with Marmite one point behind, poppy third, EJ in fourth and King Tubby fifth. The sailors were greeted with a well deserved lasagne back at the club, followed by a fleet trip to dominos.

Day two brought us more wind, only a little bit more. Racing commenced in the harbour bright and early. Poppy begun the day with an impressive port hand flyer above the rest of the fleet with Usagi and Marmite chasing hard on starboard. It was close racing for the top three to the windward mark. Poppy was going very well when pointing in the right direction, but not far behind marmite and usage for most of the race. EJ didn’t manage to start due to poor execution of kite rigging, but was well prepared for race five. EJ finally showed up with a decent start for race five and was quick but in the wrong direction! There was a loud bang as Marmite’s clew strap came undone, poppy took her chance to overtake and push for second, however once fixed, marmite quickly caught up to regain their place in front of Poppy. Everyone with current rules met up at the bottom mark of the first lap in hope for a fleet photo! After a shifty second beat Usagi was comfortably in first place with Marmite in second. For the final race, Poppy, again, takes a port start at the committee boat to get into the fresh breeze. Close racing for much of the duration of the race with a near miss between Usagi and Poppy as both boats narrowly avoid a collision close to the bottom mark due to not being able to see each other, otherwise much of the same.

Overall results: Andy Peters’ Usagi 1st Paul Croote’s Marmite 2nd Jamie Pearson’s Poppy 3rd Martyn Denchfield’s King Tubby 4th Jimmy Ruddiman’s EJ 5th