Puddleduck Vineyard Racing 19/07/2022

[Admiral]

Only the hardy (or foolish) came out to sail da Duck this morning as the temperature gauge barely scraped to a 4C.

Steady oscillating breezes of 4 – 7kn from N to NW with an occasional quiet period rewarded the 9 skippers who came out to play despite the brass monkey.

Ron #61 brought along his latest boat acquisition, a pretty blue themed unit pre-owned by Justin R. Ron is also a flyer and is used to a mode 1 setup for his Tx. This one was mode 2 and Ron found it tricky to get the hang of, uncustomary featuring his results well down on the score sheets.

After some very striking form last 65 meeting, our Sheep #37 just couldn’t pull it off this time and was found languishing at the blunt end for most races. All was not lost  though as he rallied to a podium place for the last race of the day.

With the glare from the overcast skies making marks difficult to see many of our Merry Men fell victim to missed marks.

Leading the mob was our very own Bloody Geoff #80 who despite cleaning up his act and not giving me much to write about these days, missed just about every mark on the course at some point or other. Of course we all jumped in to help by reminding him when it happened.

As I say he was not alone. Our Don #99 pulled his share of negative buoy’s but that’s ok too because the unflappable one has a medical certificate to say he can.

Phil #32 sailed well today despite the odd negative buoy or two (what happens at the bottom mark stays at the bottom mark eh?🙄). For six of the eight races sailed today the Smiling Assassin finished no lower than fifth that included two podiums.

With similar boat speed, the Admiral #23 was often toe to toe with him as they chased each other  around the course. On the occasions he managed to break free, the Admiral had a couple of tidy first places in races four and seven.

With three outright wins and no finish lower than a fourth for the entire morning, Matt G #49 was back and on fire. A runaway victory in the last for the day capped a perfect days’ racing for the veteran.

Breathing down his neck and super consistent today was our Trout #11. Without actually winning any race outright, his six podium places out of the eight run was well managed and of pure class.

With Trout and Matt keeping him honest, our Stuart #8 still managed three first and three second place finishes on a day that didn’t entirely suit his design.

Well done all on a terrific day’s sailing conducted in a most gentleman-like manner.

Wonderful to see Sue and Graeme out at da Duck for coffee and a chat. The good news, Graeme’s hip surgery was (eventually) successful and he is back upright again with the aid of a temporary crutch. We’ll see him again next 65 day no doubt.

Thanks to all who came out to have fun, to Ron for scores, Mike for web management.

 

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