Midlands District Six Metre Champion Skipper Round 3
2 Islands RYC 13th July 2019
Saturday saw Round 9 of the Shillington Cup for 6M yachts, open to Two Islands members but it doubled as an open meeting within the Midland District series.
We had a good turnout of seven Two Islands skippers as well as Shaun Holbeche who joined us from Bournville/Fleetwood, with Geoff Raygada performing Race Officer duty.
We were blessed with a decent northerly breeze blowing more or less straight across the lake, which allowed us to set courses which avoided most of the wind shadows and allowed good upwind beats, with plenty of opportunities to get it wrong, so there was plenty of place changes up to the windward mark.
Throughout the day the courses remained more or less the same. Starting between red 6 and a temporary buoy near the jetty edge, initially sailing out to red 3, red 2 as a spreader then running into the eastern bay to round red 7. This course was sailed for two laps, with a short up wind finish. As the wind swung a bit more easterly as the day progressed, we moved everything one buoy to the right, which worked well for the rest of the afternoon.
It was lovely to see Dave Alexander's new Romanza out for the first outing, finished like a fine piece of furniture, and sailing very nicely. Sadly Dave could only sail for the morning session. As usual there was little to choose speed wise between any of the different designs, two Renaissance, two Rococos, two Ravennas, a Siskin and a Romanza.
As usual the difference between leading the fleet and following behind replied to the skill of the skipper although to some extent eyesight and distance perception came into play, especially at the windward mark, with some struggling more than others. Doing turns with a 6M really hurts, so those who managed to keep clear of the buoys, or at least sail the right side of them reaped the rewards.
As the results show it was an almost demonstration sail from the clear winner Shaun Holbeche. Close on his tail, sailing consistantly at the front end of the fleet was Mike Ewart, who was runner up and winner of the round of the Shillington Cup.
Despite a good run of first places, Geoff Earle, just ended up a single point behind Mike Kemp.