This years race was in my diary for a gentle warm up for the Nationals in Pembrokeshire. My preparation started on Bank holiday weekend with a sudden Gybe to avoid Roger Williams (caught by a sudden gust on the Gybe mark and dropped the boat yards from me). In the ensuing emergency manoeuvre my head was in the way of a high speed boom .After the usual cursing for not taking a simpler route  I popped the boat back up and proceeded down wind until  20 seconds later when the boom folded in half. Ouch!!! That was my head!!!

 

All week long  I have suffered from backpain and neck ache but put it down to muscles.As the race day dawned the adrenalin kicked in and I felt much better so rather than shopping in oxford!   I set off for Sheppy.   Disembarking for the race is done on the seawall and as I jumped out of the car at 8.30 the cool breeze hit me and my neck froze   Rigging was a pain literally as I could hardly turn my neck to see things and there was the constant battle of the early morning  dog walkers( pissing on my trailer tyres) and cyclists who had to meander round the 120 or so competitors  rigging in a similar way.

 

The Blaze contingent  huddled together to buddy up for launching and headed for the start. Due to huge audience at the briefing  the start line instructions were a little vague so as the prospect of a  OCS was not a real winner  most hung well back from what they thought was the line.   Paul taylor 654 (the old fox of Burghfield) was on the line  as the gun went off and had a commanding lead for the first leg down to Minster.   A small gaggle of the medium fleet comprised the Blazes , Laser 2 and two scorpions. This front pack went for the shore in the slacker tide and slowly inched away down wind from the main pack. The down wind leg was neck and neck with the scorpions trying to catch every big wave as it went through.

Once the race turned round the corner of the island the breeze kicked in  and Mike Lyons  and the scorpions took off with  Taylor  in hot pursuit followed by Pete Barlow 758 ,John Tappenden 712 and Peter Halliwell 606 . Sheppy Virgin Mike Bell 604 was a few hundred yards behind  in the main pack.

In the swale the first of the overtaking  boats from the fast fleet started to appear in the rear view mirrors and the long beat back up the island.  The benefit of the  raising centreboard and rudder became apparent as I kissed the muddy banks of a shoal and saw the pursueing  29 er lurch  and stop grounded by the foils. Slowly I ground down the lead made by Taylor at Minster when he  grabbed hold of a gust which I never managed to connect with. This was probably the hardest  part of the race as the tide and current seemed to be running in different directions each side of the swale.  After passing Taylor mid Swale I managed to loose the position again after taking a huge tack to the far side of the river and loosing out by 20 yards.

Looking behind John Tappenden was also catching me up  so as the three Blazes tacked up the shallower upper part of the Swale, passed the  steel works ( nice smell). The Laser 2 fell away as they capsized  and left the Blazes and Cherub tacking towards the bridge.The shallow draft of the Blaze paid dividends as the  persuing Cherub had to stick in centre channel and was unable to pass me until he  got to the bridge.

The bridge passage was very uneventful unlike many others  as I queued behind the cherub and one of the scorpions. My only mistake was to leave the rudder cleated  which had mega scrape on the concrete as I   departed. The section between the bridge and the docks was a tight fetch followed by a run and I managed to overtake the scorpion and the cherub until he turned down wind and launched his kite (which was big enough to form its own rain clouds ).During this blast through the docks I managed to escape the clutches of John Tappenden  but was never in sight of Mike Lyons until the finish line. He finished about 6 minutes ahead)

The Blaze fleet did pretty well out of the 118 competitors including many Cats and fast asymetrics .

 

Mike Lyons 769                      12

Peter Barlow 758                   19

John Tappenden 712             22

Paul Taylor  654                     28

Peter Halliwell 606                 35

Mike Bell   604                        45

 

Apart from a smug satistfaction from competing in such a gruelling race for 4 and a half hours I am now suffering from severe neck and back pain  and spent Sunday lying flat or shuffeling  around the house like an octogenarian. Bring me Drugs!!!

 

See you at the Nationals. ( ill probably be wearing a neck brace)

Peter Barlow 758

 

Overall results: http://www.iossc.org.uk/tmp/R_OVERALL_PY_HANDICAP_RESULTS.pdf