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It was windy again at Bewl, the only problem was the wind was coming from a very awkward direction, downwind to the dam. This meant that the wind was only strong over about a quarter of the reservoir, and it was impossible to set a proper M course, it ended up looking more like a banana! The last leg was supposed to be a reach, but it was very tight, and had to be sailed with the dagger down on the Aloha.
We had quite a good turnout from the South East, with Andrew Johnson and me on Alohas, Kerry Moores and Alan Hurst on Raceboards, Simeon on 103, and Nicola Moores on Junior One Design.
The main hazard of this event was the dinghies, there were at least ninety of them, and they were everywhere!
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It was somewhat chaotic at the start of the first race, because the windsurfers started last, even after the Optimists, and noone really knew what was going on. I noticed the flag was down, so I drifted over to the boat and asked "Is that the start?" and was told "Of course it is, get going!" so I did. The others saw me go, so they woke up and chased after me, but I was a good twenty seconds in front by this time.
The other problem was that the Lasers were doing one course, we and the other dinghies another, and Andrew chased off after the Lasers for a bit, which didn't help him catch me up. So in this race I came first, Andrew second, and Alan Hurst on his raceboard (with Art Blade Convert 7m) came third. Kerry did not have a good race as she was salvaging her sister Nicola who had got blown onto the dam. Yes, it was windy!
It was now so late that lunch was announced. Bewl Brunch was off, so I had to settle for sausage and chips. Then Andrew and I went out blasting, in my case on the 280 short board. It was great, particularly as the water was empty.
The second race was after two o'clock, and unfortunately Kerry and Nicola had to go off to a swimming match, so missed it. The rest of us started a lot better this time, now that we had worked out we were three minutes after the Optimists. Those dinghies! The Aloha is faster than any dinghy in planing conditions, and even upwind we were faster than most of them. So we had to overtake them all, while they nicked our wind or tried to luff us up.
At the end of this obstacle course Andrew was a lot closer behind me in second place, with Alan Hurst third again.
The third race went much the same way. The wind had risen, so Alan didn't race, and Andrew tried switching to his change down sail to see if that gave him any more speed. I clung on to my Aloha sail, so nobody caught me, and Andrew once again beat the rest of the field to come second. After my three bullets, I took the short board out again to celebrate while they worked out the results.
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At the prizegiving, Julie Hulne took the Junior One Design trophy, the only one to complete the course in the very difficult conditions. Andrew Timbers won the 103 class, and Alan Hurst the Raceboard.
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I won the Aloha class, and also the Medway Diver trophy for overall performance. It was explained that the diver's helmet symbolises the amount of time windsurfers spend under water. Cheek!
