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Printed from SigneT Class Owners Association website at www.sailsignet.org.uk
The second Open Meeting of the year was greeted by steady wind and gorgeous sunshine over the weekend! Six boats, 2 home and 4 visiting, took to the water for 5 races split over 2 days! After a lot of delays from the bank holiday traffic, everyone made it in time for the first race which was a pursuit race! This was chaos with 30-40 boats racing on the pond at the same time! The two Frensham boats showed their local knowledge and led the way for most of the race. Rob and Helen had a comfortable lead. Will and Natalie managed to get the shifts right towards the end and catch up to Kate and Frank right before the finish getting 2nd, and 3rd! John Panting and Harry were 4th. Tom and Bertie had had to end early because their wooden mast decided to split into 2! When asked what the problem was, Tom said you'd be able to see the problem: and sure enough you could see right through the mast! Luckily after a quick mast swap, they were ready to go for Race 2.
After the Pursuit, there was one final race but this time with just the SigneTs taking part, making things a little less chaotic. The wind was starting to drop making for a calmer race, which made it a little trickier to figure out the best way to go. Kate and Frank jumped into the lead and were unreachable, leaving everyone else to fight it out for 2nd. Will and Natalie were getting the hang of the pond and started to create a bit of a gap to the other two. Everyone was quite spaced out towards the end until Rob and Helen were a little bit too eager on a roll tack and capsized! They managed to get back into the boat before John and Harry caught up but their boat was like a swimming pool. All the extra weight meant John and Harry were able to pass into 3rd. After lots of bailing, Rob and Helen were able to just get past at the final moment by the skin of their teeth!
As the evening started, everyone got their tents pitched within the dinghy park, with some tents between Teras and others surrounded by Optimists on racks helping to fend off any wind. Afterwards, Luke Anstey cooked a tasty BBQ for everyone to enjoy!
The next day, Pat and Michael turned up eager to join in bringing some more wind with them as well. The windier weather suited Will and Natalie as they cruised away into the lead upwind leaving Pat and Michael, and Kate and Frank to fight it out for 3rd place. Towards the end of the 2nd lap, Pat and Michael were eager to catch up to the lead so hoisted their spinnaker. Others had attempted spinnaker hoists but didn't see any meaningful gains. However this all changed during this long run. Will and Natalie were feeling comfortable until they turned around to see a rocket ship suddenly appear. Pat and Michael got a huge gust with all 3 sails flying and got to the end of the run right next to Will and Natalie. Despite this, Will and Natalie were able to keep in front of them just!
After a quick break, we jumped into Race 4. Will got his watch wrong meaning he started to turn around from the start line as the race started... Whoops. By the first mark, everyone was very close with all the positions changing down the next reach. As we approached the next windward mark, Pat and Will ducked Kate and tacked behind her on the layline. However a nasty shift meant Kate wasn't quite able to make the mark. She decided to tack again but this caused Pat to have to swerve to avoid but Will was able to hold his course as Kate tacked back. This messy mark rounding meant Kate had to do 2 penalty turns putting her back into 4th. Will and Pat fought it out, with a few more spinnaker attempts but no huge gains like Race 4 were to be made giving Will and Natalie another win and securing them the event win overall before the final race.
Everyone came in for lunch and enjoyed a nice break before the final race. The wind was still building making for some exciting racing. Everyone got off well, all quite close to the first mark. Will and Natalie used their fast upwind skills to build a comfortable lead leaving Kate and Frank, and Pat and Michael to fight it out for 2nd place. John and Harry were keeping up until a gybe went wrong with them both ending up for a swim, sadly ending the race for them.
After racing, everyone enjoyed the Frensham Tea waiting for the prize ceremony as well as wished Rob a Happy Birthday. Thank you to Frensham Pond Sailing Club for a great weekend. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the next open at Broadstairs Sailing Club in July!
Event report by Will Russell
Race results are here.
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