May One-Design - Dragons

​Guest Post by David Dale-Johnson
​The May One-Design regatta was a varied affair.  The Martin 242’s turned up on Saturday and the Six Meters turned up on Sunday.  And of course, the steady Eddie Dragons and Stars turned up both days.  There were varied conditions during both days with light winds from the west on Saturday building through the day.  There were strong winds both Friday night and Saturday night (30 knots plus) but they died on Saurday morning so the first couple of races were in light breezes but the blue sky brought a strong westerly so the day finished with some excellent Dragon conditions.  Sunday was a slight different story with strong breezes in the morning building during the day.  So great Dragon conditions all day.  The wind veered south late in the day so for Race 4 the weather mark was off the beach southwest from Blue Peter with the strongest breeze of the day.  The race committee did an excellent job getting four races off both days.  The pin never stayed in the same place as the breeze come from the west but never consistently from the same direction.  With a tendency for the breeze to rotate south a couple of races ended up with very few tacks to the weather mark and a reach to the leeward mark.  Nonetheless it was great sailing.  Not one of the top three boats was consistently at the top although Eagle weathered the challenge from Ayrborn and Mistral with four bullets.  Consistent as always but a couple of less impressive finishes to keep them honest. Mistral’s three bullets were not adequate to allow them to finish ahead of Ayrborn (skippered by Leigh Andrew) with one 4th place being their worst result (and the throw-out).  Rum & Monkey and Blue battled for 4th place with Blue breaking the tie.  Paul Taylor’s tactics were, no doubt, the key to Blue’s fine performance in a couple of races.  Eclipse, with guest crew from Ontario, stuck it out on Sunday without a 3rd person. Great work Lorne.  The Curmudgeons welcomed Jim Allan both days and Judy Day on Saturday and Andreas on Sunday, but to no avail. All in all, it was great weather for the fleet with the sun out during most of the time on both days and a terrific breeze for the fleet most of the week-end.  Congratulations Eagle on another great regatta. The same three boats in the top three as in the April regatta.  The spread is narrowing so look out Eagle!