Xenon Open at Brightlingsea Sailing Club
by Martin Wark 17 May 2006 08:48 BST
13 May 2006
The second Xenon event of the season took place at Brightlingsea SC on Saturday 13th May.
The weather forecast was for no wind and rain so we were delighted to arrive to sunshine and a light breeze. We launched with the Iso’s and B14’s and drifted slowly to the start area which was quite a distance from the club. No returning to the club house for lunch here - this situation is one where the Xenon is able to demonstrate that having built in lunch boxes and litter bins is great advantage – much to the frustration of the watching B14’s the Xenon sailors were able to enjoy picnics between the races.
The first race started in a light breeze and against the tide. Kevin Moore and his young son led from start to finish, a pattern we got pretty used to for the rest of the day. Martin Wark with his brother Alistair now crewing for him followed and took second after a close covering match with Paul Doyle and crew down the final run.
Race 2 started in very light and varying winds, Kevin led off and went to the right of the course, Martin to the left , with Paul and Russ Dent (from Topper – with a novice crew) spread up the middle, then with us about half way up the beat the wind did a complete 180 degree about flip and filled in from the starboard side, this left Kevin and Paul able to reach to the buoy whilst Russ and Martin were left waiting for the wind to fill and with a much tighter lay. The second leg was just a fetch and the race officer decided to finish after one lap.
For Race 3 the wind filled considerably, the race officer laid a new course almost 90 degrees to the old. Unfortunately the wind was still swinging and it took a couple of goes to get all the fleets away.
When we did start Russ Dent proved that all his experience in the Xenon was not wasted as he managed to give Kevin a good race, however Kevin still managed to hold him off to complete his clean sweep. Martin was third some distance behind.
This left Kevin clear winner but 2nd, 3rd and 4th with exactly equal points.
May we thank Brightlingsea Sailing Club for a great day, and the others on the water for letting us join there event.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 3949 | Kevin Moore | Hawley Lake | 1.4 |
| 2nd | 0 | Russ Dent | Brightlingsea | 5 |
| 3rd | 3936 | Martin Wark | Broadwater | 5 |
| 4th | 4197 | Paul Doyle | Hertford County | 5 |