Duke of Edinburgh Trophy 20th September 2020

Sunshine, and wind between 16-18kt provided a splendid day’s racing for the coveted trophy, and a large entry across all our fleets was in evidence.
It was a very successful event. Well planned, and well executed with excellent support from the team out on the water.  Three different race courses were featured to try and level out any boat advantage on a particular type of course, and this is where the fun began, because it involved the sailors actually reading the sailing instructions where beautiful clear diagrams could be found, along with the letter that would be displayed on the committee boat to signal the course. To emphasise the point, there was note on the website home page reminding sailors to read the SIs.

The first race was sailed on a reverse P, and as usual the fast fleet was away and flew up the 900m beat, and then all bar 2 boats sailed a windward leeward course so scored DSQ. At least we then knew who had not read the SIs!

Race 2 was sailed on a trapezoid, and race 3 on a windward leeward.

Although blowing well, the wind did shift around a lot, and so there were pitfalls and gains aplenty. In the end consistency paid and the Solo of Chris Brown won scoring 4,4,3.  The top three was completed by 2 more Solos.

Chris Clarke was our RO and as well as all the pre event planning he carried out, he did a great job coordinating the support team, we owe him a big thank you.

Report by Nigel Denchfield. Photos Robbie McDonald