The North Devon Wrecker at Instow was the first event of the 2020/21 Sailing Southwest Winter Series.

 

With our Spinnaker SC Open cancelled on the Saturday due to the gales the Wrecker became a good alternative for a couple of those with their boats packed and keen for a day out that weekend.  With a couple late entries four hardy RS Aeros turned out amongst the 34 mixed class entries for the 2 hour pursuit pace on the top of the tide.

 

That whole weekend was certainly full to the brim with all sorts of weather and during the 120 minute race we had all four seasons. A squall approaching 30kn at its peak at start time left a fair number remaining ashore or missing their starts. Lightish winds in the middle of the race kept the fast boats at bay with a large turnout of North Devon YC's Sprint 15 and Dart 18 catamarans. The race then finished in glorious sunshine and a freshening cool breeze with 23 boats still standing at the finish time.

 

 

After one lap Sam Mettam had the lead in his brand new RS Aero 5 (fast out of the box!) having overtaken the Radial who had had a 1 minute head start. Peter and Greg enjoyed a close tussle for their 106 minutes never more than about 6 boat lengths apart and with the lead changing 3 times.  They took the race lead after overtaking the Laser with about 20 minutes to go and with a nice little lead Peter was starting to look good for the title - until Greg then overtook again! The last lap saw the increase in wind and the Osprey came charging through, planing hard down the broad reach, to ultimately just pip Greg at the finish time.

 

Great to see new RS Aero sailor Sam Mettam of Papercourt SC pitch up for his first RS Aero event with his new RS Aero - a real baptism of fire! We rigged his new boat #3437 from scratch speedily at NDYC before he christened it in the 30kn squall straight off the slipway in Instow's challenging estuary - it may all seem easy for him now after that! Richard Watsham in his RS Aero 7 managed to catch Sam right at the end of the race, with them finishing 12th and 13th respectively.

 

 

Next up on the Sailing Southwest Winter Series is the Roadford Rocket on the Sun 22nd Nov followed by the Paignton Christmas Cracker on Sun 6th Dec.