August Pursuit Race
As the river festival racing was cancelled this year, we organised an impromptu race on Quay Day.
6 Boats took part in the race: Firecrest, Calva, Wednesday’s Child, Anastasia, Free Will and Pinch of Thyme. The course was C1-C2 start line followed by Puffin to Port and back to C1-C2.
The first boat Firecrest set off at 13:25 and the last boat Pinch of Thyme set off at 13:37 with the task of catching Firecrest before 15:25
The race took place in ideal conditions for a pleasant family day out. The wind blew at around NW10 knots most of the day which gave us quite a challenge with rounding Puffin.
During the race Calva soon became the hare that we were all chasing. As we tacked up towards Puffin, Pinch of Thyme overhauled Free Will and gradually closed on Calva before overtaking Calva on the penultimate tack. Free Will tacked a little later hoping to avoid a further tack by Puffin. As the boats tacked around Puffin, Calva retook the lead with some precise tacking. The fleet now entered the sound and after their long single tack approach Free Will rejoined the fray and passed Wednesday’s Child as they rounded the Perch against the current.
There were now 20 minutes of the race left and the fleet were on a broad reach towards the finish line but holding positions with Calva in the lead closely followed by Pinch of Thyme and Free Will. Wednesdays Child had also rounded the Perch and Anastasia was not far behind approaching the Sound, followed by Firecrest who was approaching Puffin.
The race finished at 15:25 and the final race result was:
- Calva skippered by Tony Edmunds, crewed by Bob Stuart and Rod Gilmore
- Pinch of Thyme, Mike and Sally Ousby
- Free Will, team Gorst – Stephen, Lorraine, David, Sian, Chloe and Owen
- Wednesdays Child – Rachel and Mike Gunning
- Anastasia – Martin And Pete
- Firecrest – Mark and Peter
Thanks to everybody that took part and also the boats that sailed along with us as spectators. The next race will be on the 9th September followed by Barts bash on the 16th. All welcome.