Page 27 - Salcombe Masthead 2020

HANDICAP FLEET REPORT
The medium handicap fleet has had a great year with some strong competition amongst the usual competitors plus some new talent joining its ranks. On average there are about 10 to 12 boats competing each Saturday and on occasions up towards 20.
The bulk of the fleet is made up of Laser 4.7’s and Radials with the odd sighting of
a full rig, but Aero’s are growing in number and proving very fast and in the right hands extremely hard to beat. Quite often in this fleet the weather dictates the chances of victory. In a blow any course with Gerston in it and the Aero’s and Radials race off
into unassailable leads, but given a good old Blackstone Crossways course the Feva can hold its own, however light winds and strong tides sees the Feva really struggle due to being under canvassed and sporting an 80kg hull, thus making things very
hard especially when the Aero’s are out. The 4.7’s are very much dependent on
the weight of the helm vs. the wind as is regularly shown by the Evans brothers who in light winds are very fast and Ben Meek who creates some serious boat speed in conditions over a force three.
Despite the very large differences in handicap that could see the Feva overhaul an Aero on corrected time after finishing almost 15 minutes behind, the racing saw some very tight results with often only seconds between the first 4 or 5 boats. The frustration of having no idea if you are winning or last is what makes handicap racing so exciting and demoralising in equal measure.
THE AUTUMN SERIES WAS TO SAY THE LEAST EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING AND BLIGHTED WITH NORTH WESTERLIES OF VARYING STRENGTH.
As the year went on new competition emerged from cadets making the leap
from Junior Handicap to the Medium by jumping into Laser 4.7’s and putting in some very strong showings. Gus Howells started the season in a 4.7 and stepped
up again to a Radial before the season finished. Louis Tollins and Dom Holt-Wilson joined late in the season and are improving with every race. It would be amiss not to mention the entertainment Esther McClarty has provided on a few occasions this year with some particularly spectacular capsizes and unfortunate luck, but on her day Esther is a force to be reckoned with regularly picks up wins.
The Sailing Club series was a straight shootout between Andrew and Lewis Groves in the Feva XL and Simon Ballantine in his Aero 7, which finished with the Groves taking the series with Simon in 2nd and Clare Booth in 3rd. The Summer series
saw some commanding wins for Ben Meek and Simon Ballantine who between them dominated the series with 3 wins apiece and saw Simon getting quicker by the week in his Aero. The series finished with victory for Ben, Simon in second and the Groves
in third in the Feva. The Autumn series was to say the least extremely frustrating and blighted with North Westerlies of varying strength. Esther dominated the series and took the overall victory with Ben Meek in second and the Groves in third. Tim Fells put tin the odd appearance in
his Aero 7 and was frighteningly quick;
the challenge next year will be to keep up with Simona and Tim in their Aeros. New sailors and boats are always welcome. We look forward to the OK Dinghy of Roger Tushingham joining this fleet in 2020.
It’s been a really great year and we now head into the winter series to test ourselves against a few Yawls and members of the Fast Handicap fleet as we become one fleet until the new year.
Finally, a big thank you to those who have been in the Watch House across the season and made it possible for us to enjoy some brilliant racing.
Andrew Groves
THE FRUSTRATION OF HAVING NO IDEA IF YOU ARE WINNING OR LAST IS WHAT MAKES HANDICAP RACING SO EXCITING...
Fleet Reports 25