Nothing too Beastly about the Beastie this year. There was a little precipitation early on, but nothing like the gales and torrents we have had in Feb across the UK this year or the snow and chill in the 'Beast from the East' that cancelled the event in 2018. More of a concern was having enough wind as the nice 10kn forecast was  challenged by its westerly orientation leaving half the lake looking rather calm under the high ground of the western shoreline.

 

The event is a true marathon of pursuit races with 3 hours of racing for the early starters. Wimbleball Lake has three distinct areas joined by two narrow channels.  The challenges of the tricky breeze, following the shorelines and being quick to alter, made for a hard race requiring full concentration and continual decisions and adjustment by the sailors.

 

The RS Aero 9 of Peter Barton caught the pack of the K1s, Albacore and the RS Aero 7 of Chris Jones early on but in the tricky breeze it then took most of the remaining race to pull away. The RS400s were on the money, looking fast in the light breeze, often trundling nicely when others struggled.

 

Ultimately the two RS400s came through for the lead with Peter finally capturing 3rd from Val Millward's Challenger towards the end. Chris took a commendable 16th on a challenging day.

 

Another fun adventure out at beautiful Wimbleball Lake on Exmoor. Thanks to Exmoor Ales for the sponsored beer prizes!