East Coast Piers Race

9 Shadows enjoyed a great weekend of racing at the 20th East Coast Piers Race at Marconi sailing club. Marconi do an incredible job in the organisation of this favourite cat event and raise a lot of money for charities in the process.

Race 1 provided perfect F3-4 sunny conditions and after the fun of the mass start, the Shadow racing developed into a very close battle between Phil Neal, Olly Harris and Ian Cuthbertson, often with only metres between them. Ian is new to the class and showed incredible speed, particularly downwind. Mark Aldridge, also new this year was also near the front at times and competition was fierce right the way through the fleet. Olly took race one with Phil and Ian close behind and David Brief 4th.

In race 2, Mark Aldridge got an excellent start in the big fleet of fast cats and showed good upwind speed. At the windward mark the Shadows were all close, with Olly round first and Phil, Mark and Ian all right behind.
Olly then proceeded to capsize in front of the clubhouse, leaving him a lot of catching up to do. The second lap was again a battle between Phil and Ian, with Olly pulling through but never getting past Phil. David took 4th
again after a close race against Chris Pilgrim and Mark. Tired and happy, the fleet headed first to the briefing for Sundays long distance race, then to the bar and Marconi's unique sea wall setting for a few beers.

On Sunday, the lack of wind and 0850 start meant a slow drift down the estuary, with concentration required to get any benefit from the zephyrs and keep the spinnaker filled until the sea breeze arrived at Bradwell. Phil, Mark and Ian came out of this stage of the race particularly well and by Colne point Phil had a massive lead with Mark next. Further back, David, Chris and Olly were close but Olly pulled up and by Weymarks on the way back, had caught and passed Mark then Phil, whilst Ian had used his downwind speed to overtake them both. Turning the corner at the Baffle produced a fantastic spinnaker reach and a high risk game of "who can hold their kite the longest". Back inside the river, Ian maintained his lead with Olly chasing but not quite catching him. Mark got past Phil to take a well earned 3rd place whilst David eventually beat Chris by only seconds after a close battle. All of the Shadows were within 10 minutes of each
other after 5 hours racing.

Overall, although equal on points for the weekend, Ian's win in the double-points Colne Point race meant that he won his first Shadow event. With 3 events so far and 3 different winners, there is all to play for at the next event, Stokes Bay on 8/9th September.

1st Ian Cuthbertson, Island (5)
2nd Olly Harris, Weston (5)
3rd Phil Neal, Rutland (9)
4th Mark Aldridge, Grafham (12)
 

North Devon YC, Instow. 9&10th Jun

NDYC provided a fantastic weekend of racing to six Shadows, alongside the Spitfire fleet. Weather conditions were perfect with hot sunshine and breeze up to force 4. Race 1 was particularly challenging as the sailors tried various routes upwind against a strong tide. The sea breeze built and as the tide slacked then started to ebb, different tactics were required for each race. On Sunday, the SE breeze provided a change to the course and more great sailing.
Racing was close throughout, with Ian Smith, Chris Pilgrim, Mike Ward and Dave Lowe all getting second places and chasing leader Olly Harris who managed five race wins. In the last race, the closest of all, Dave stayed close to Olly for the first lap, only to capsize at the leeward gate. He was upright again quickly and recovered well but Mike held onto second place. Overall, Ian took second by only one point, thanks to pipping Chris on the line in Race 2. The next three boats tied on points but Chris with two second places took third overall. Organisation and hospitality both on and off the water was excellent and the class hope to return next year with more boats. Next event is the East Coast Piers Race on July 7/8th.

1st: Olly Harris (Weston SC) 4 Points, 2nd: Ian Smith (Rutland SC) 12 Points, 3rd: Chris Pilgrim (Rutland SC) 13 Points, 4th: Dave Lowe (Rutland SC) 13 Points, 5th: Mike Ward (Pentewan Sands SC) 13 Points, 6th: Graham Tomlin (Eastbourne SC) 25 Points

Rutland Water: 19/20 May

Eleven Shadows gathered at Rutland for the first TT event of the season including visitors from Cornwall and the Isle of Wight. The aim was a day of training led by Tim Swinburne to be followed by racing. Conditions were not ideal for the training with a F4/5 with some very big gusts giving some exciting sailing. The wind gods were at their most impish as Sunday saw real drifter conditions but nevertheless the RO did brilliantly and managed  to get three races in. The light conditions with some periods of flat calm, big holes and big shifts made for something of a lottery with boats pulling out 400 yard leads being swallowed up as the wind died for them and picked up elsewhere. It is a rare sight to see boats 20 yards on a “beat” with one flying his kite!! Local sailor, David Lowe proved master of the conditions and won the event. Robin Leather of Gurnard made an impressive debut in the class wining the first race and taking second place overall with David Brief of Grafham in third. Mark Aldridge of Grafham also managed a win in his first TT which made his weekend. All very enjoyable in spite of the conditions. (First: David Lowe (Rutland); Second: Robin Leather (Gurnard); Third: David Brief (GWSC); Fourth: Phil Neal (Rutland) 

Results table 2007

There are 5 events in the Series, with 3 to count to the overall result.

At the East Coast Piers Race weekend, the Colne Point race contributes double points to the overall result for that weekend.

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