Noble Marine Comet Trio Mark 1 National Championship at Exe Sailing Club - Overall

Podium in the Noble Marine Comet Trio Mark 1 Nationals at Exe © M. Accred

Day 3 dawned with a glassy River Exe & the spectacle of 20 Trios being towed out to sea to beat the tide & enable a prompt start when the wind filled in.

Race 5 started in light winds. Guy and Graham 509 reached the windward mark first followed by Andrew and Caroline 501 and Steve and Martin in 510. These positions remained to the leeward mark when Andrew and Caroline and Steve and Martin gained favourable lifts on the second beat in a dying breeze. This seemed to suit Steve and Martin 510 who sailed high to the starboard layline gaining a sizeable lead for the run to the finish. However Andrew and Caroline sailed deeper to gain first place by the leeward gybe to the finish.

A tussle then ensued between Steve and Guy who gained an overlap on the gybe mark with a friendly disagreement about the 3 boat overlap rule. So Guy ended up in second and Steve in third place after blowing a 100 metre lead on the last leg losing 2 places. In 4th place were Chris and Ben Biglin 5th place Bob and Colette.

Race 6: Guy & Graham, undeterred by lack of spectacles seemed to go very fast & led for the duration of the race. A well deserved win! The Ways seemed to be turbo charged in the light breeze & finished second.

Race 7: The sun emerged & everyone looked happy to be afloat. The breeze picked up a little which was fitting for the final race of the series. The McAuslands started at the pin end arriving at the windward mark in close proximity to the Ways. They each took a different angle going down to the gybe mark with the McAuslands just rounding first. There was a steady breeze for the final triangle, enhanced by the sight of dolphins at the windward mark. Andrew & Caroline took first place followed by The Ways & Chris & Ben Biglin.

A great event put on by so many helpers with Bob Horlock masterminding the event.

Overall results were the McAusland first, Guy & Graham second & Anne & Mike third. Bob, Colette & guest crew Nick Ajderian won the Ancient Mariner trophy.

Overall Results: