Walker Trophy

04 Nov Walker Trophy

Balmy Summer weather finally arrived presenting the fleet with a gentle 8 to 10 knot  SSW Sea Breeze on Saturday . Bruce Grant as Race Officer on day 1 cannily waited for the breeze to settle  before firing in rapid succession 4  quick two lap windward leewards set in the East Head/Thorney reach. The Roberts’ (M12) set the early running  taking the Partingtons up the second beat to win the first race, The Partingtons (M12)came back with two well timed pin end Port Tack starts to win races 2 and 3, Itchenor honours were upheld with a runaway win by Andy Penman (B5) with his new crew  Dion Houghton in race 4.With all to play for day two, the expected additional  breeze failed to materialize, the wind remaining in the East and the slightly murkier weather hindered the onset of the sea breeze.The master 14er Jeremy Pudney himself was Race Officer on day 2 setting an excellent windward/leeward , across the Thorney Channel and timing the starts to coincide with the prevailing  periodic wind, complicated with occasional sea breeze puffs. Four quick races with 4 different race winners , Douglas Patterson(M12) taking the first, The Jones’  (B5) showed that their new rig could deal equally well with the light by powering through the fleet to win the second race; The Pascals (M12) took the third and the final race was ably taken by Kate Nurton (B5).The final tally gave the overall winner to the  Partingtons’ (Andy and Tom), the Roberts’ (Damon and Alan) second and Andy Penman  with Dion Houghton third.