Nineteen boats took to the water on Sunday to compete in the Late Pursuit and Autumn Points races at the Downs Sailing Club. There was a light Westerly breeze and a slight swell for the Pursuit race. The early starting boats set off against the tide towards Dover and then turned out to sea onto a run, the tide had a big effect and several boats were swept down below the mark. The later starting boats had the advantage of seeing this and were able to compensate. Katie and Steve Restall swapped roles, but still progressed well and led the group of Buzzes at the end of the first lap only to be passed on the second by Ed and Sarah Styles. John Cass was giving his new boat a first run out and managed to pull ahead of Simon Cory on the final run. Frank Catt held off the asymmetric boats to take first place.
Results: Pursuit Race 1st Frank Catt (RS300) 2nd Ed and Sarah Styles (Buzz) 3rd Katie and Steve Restall (Buzz) 4th John Wilkinson and Mick Banks
(Albacore) 5th Claire and Helen Stubbs (RS200) 6th John Cass and Julia Brazil (Buzz) The wind had strengthened slightly for the start of the Points Race and a further three boats joined the fleet. In the Fast Handicap fleet, the start was crowded and getting clean air was at a premium. Steve and Katie Restall quickly pulled out a good lead and were never passed, behind them there was much place changing as there were a few holes in the wind. Simon Cory managed to pull ahead of the other Buzzes whilst John Cass and Ed Styles had a fierce battle with Ed just edging ahead at the finish with Chris and Nicky Dutton close behind.
Points Race: Fast Handicap 1st Steve and Katie Restall (Buzz) 2nd Simon Cory and Penny Jordan (Buzz) 3rd Frank Catt (RS300) 4th Ed and Sarah Styles (Buzz) 5th John Cass and Julia Brazil (Buzz) 6th Chris and Nicky Dutton (Buzz)
In the slow handicap, the Laser of Ben Hills held off the doublehanded boats to take first place with Chris Stubbs in second. Roger Phillips gave his new RS Feva a run out to finish in sixth place.
Slow Handicap 1st Ben Hills (Laser) 2nd Chris Stubbs and Sally Waite (Laser 2000) 3rd John Wilkinson and Mick Banks (Albacore) 4th Claire and Helen Stubbs (RS200) 5th John Turgoose (Laser) 6th Roger Phillips and Poppy McGoldrick (RS Feva).
Next week the fleet will travel to Dover Harbour to take part in the Man of Kent Trophy against teams from all of East Kent.
On Sunday, eighteen boats competed for the Norman Atkins trophy at the Downs sailing club. The format of the competition was three short races held back to back. In contrast to Saturday's gales, the morning dawned bright and sunny with a gentle South-Westerly breeze. The race officer set a triangular course with the first leg being a short fetch towards Dover. Steve and Katie Restall pulled out a good lead and set the pattern for the following races by taking first place. Behind them the Buzzes of Ed Styles and John Cass had a close contest throughout the race with the latter winning out when Ed hooked the buoy at the last mark and started towing it back towards the club. This also let through Chris Dutton and Martin Wyman who had been steadily recovering from a bad start. The Catt family dominated the single handers with Frank winning out over Chris. Mitch Webb sailing a Vareo was going well and took sixth place. The wind began to strengthen and become more gusty for the second and third races. The Restalls continued their winning streak in both races and Ed and Sarah Styles made no further mistakes to gain a second and a fourth place. The final race saw the strongest gusts which led to a fair number of capsizes and some near misses at the gybe mark. Frank Catt rolled over on the run and this allowed son Chris to take third place but this was not enough for him to prevail in the overall results. Overall Results: Norman Atkins Trophy 1st Steve and Katie
Restall (Buzz) 2nd Ed and Sarah Styles (Buzz) 3rd Frank Catt (RS300) 4th Chris Catt (Laser Radial) 5th John Cass and Julia Brazil (Buzz) 6th Chris Stubbs and Sally Waite (Laser 2000)
Last Weekend saw the final Children's sailing event of this year at Downs SC. Eighteen young people spent Friday evening practising their powerboat skills driving the club Rigid Inflatable Boats down to golf club then out to the Bank buoy in the gathering gloom. Saturday was spent at the Redoubt SC where despite winds of up to force 6 all went afloat in the club Toppers for a very lively day with a lot of capsize recovery practice. Children's sailing continues over the winter with Kent schools sailing association and next June Downs SC starts their own local programme again. A strong contingent from the Downs SC attended the National Schools Sailing Association Regatta at Bridlington at the end of July. Katie
Restall was 5th Topper and 1st Lady, Sam Rowe was 2nd Laser Radial, Rob Waite was 6th Laser Radial, Mitch Webb and Phil Spicer were the 4th Asymmetric boat. Kent won the Team Prize for the second year running aided by these results. Katie Restall competed in both the Topper Nationals and World Championships coming 25th at the Worlds.
On Sunday a light North-Easterly breeze and a flat sea gave pleasant conditions for the racing. In the Pursuit race, Chris Shelton in his Phantom pulled out a good lead which he held until the end of the race. Behind him, the fleet were gradually being hauled in by Chris Dutton and Martin Wyman who held off the other fast handicap boats to finish second. Simon Cory and Ed styles had a close battle in their Buzzes with Simon finishing ahead. Phil Spicer enjoyed his first go at helming the Laser 2000 to beat the others of the same class.
Results: Pursuit Race 1st Chris Shelton (Phantom) 2nd Chris Dutton and Martin Wyman (Buzz) 3rd Simon Cory and Penny Jordan(Buzz) 4th Ed and Sarah Styles (Buzz) 5th Frank Catt (RS300) 6th Phil and Dave Spicer (Laser 2000).
The wind had increased slightly for the Points race and there were most gains to be made from finding the bands of wind on the beat. The tide had slackened and had a lesser effect in this race. In the fast handicap Ed Styles was over the line and had to restart, however this was not too detrimental because he was able to start nearer the favoured starboard end of the line. This allowed the RS400 of Phil Eversfield and the Hornet of Eric Styles to pull ahead. Behind them the three Buzzes of Ed Styles, Simon Cory and Chris Dutton remained close together and finished in that order. In the Slow Handicap, Chris Shelton pulled out a good lead and in fact kept up with the faster boats to win the race. Phil and Dave Spicer again did well to finish second. The race was nearly disrupted when a large powerboat decided to plough through the middle of the fleet, setting up a 6ft bow wave which proved interesting to negotiate.
Results: Fast Handicap 1st Ed and Sarah Styles (Buzz) 2nd Simon Cory and Penny Jordan (Buzz) 3rd Chris Dutton and Martin Wyman (Buzz) 4th Eric Styles and Thomas (Hornet) 5th Phil and Steve Eversfield (RS400) 6th Jeremy Blackman and Julia Brazil (Buzz) Slow Handicap 1st Chris Shelton (Phantom) 2nd Phil and Dave Spicer (Laser 2000) 3rd John Wilkinson and Mick Banks(Albacore) 4th Roger Phillips and Sally Waite (Laser 2000) 5th John Sharvill and Tim Waite (Laser 2000)