St Patricks Pot, renamed St Simons Pot , and Warming Pan Race 5 - Patrick Palmer
Published 18:08 on 21 Mar 2023
Sunday 19th March 2023.
Wind N/W F2-3 sunny intervals
There was some confusion over which race was which, given the sequence as per calendar v what race officer Gareth Luker had listed on the white board during the briefing. Did it matter? There were different winners for each so I guess it did fancy pulling out all the stops on what you thought was a trophy race only to find out it was the 5th in a series. you'd be appalled! Can you tell the difference between the 'feel' of a series race as opposed to a one-off trophy race - the latter imbued with giant-killer cup-tie connotations, the former with cold remorseless Ainsley-esque tactics (Harriet, in some cases, Ben in others). Race-team-Luker reversed the sequence so that the Trophy race was run first, apparently, but had made this clear and it made little difference to some of us.
R1: The wind was shifty, but fairly stiff in patches with some trapezing, and hiking leg-work-outs on the monos. Mercedes/Clement laid a long leeward leg which one would imagine would suit the cats, but not a bit of it, this was a day for lasers, with Simon Ash pulling off a blinder and nabbing the first trophy of the season. Especially since the other laser-er, Andy Ruffer, no slouch when it comes to wielding a tiller, was having his season debut too. Whilst his turn-turtle went largely unwitnessed (by the Race Box, most of the fleet including your correspondent), the patrol boat were right on it and not only noticed but mentioned it, post-race. Bless them, I hear Andy saying. There were some tactical wins, generally going out to sea being preferable on both upwind and downwind, with some sizeable gains/losses* but it was pretty surprising that the windier conditions didn't prove more beneficial to the cats, but then the monos can pretty much do a dead-downwind leg so..swings and roundabouts innit. Rob/Fi were second, Rod/Sarah in their first 2023 outing third. Jamie/Luca had a good battle with Gilbert but the solo couldn't overcome the duo and in fact Mr Knox very nearly obliged PP/Chris B by hitting the finishing mark but just missed it by a short measure of credulity. Other season first-timers included Paul/Melissa in a D16, and Darren Reeves joining Phil G on the Nacra 17 going for the tallest aggregate crew (7.8 metres) however this led to considerable wind-resistance which accounted for their pitiful performance.
R2: The wind de-stiffed and became less shifty, leading to more of a procession for the cats, but the monos did well with Andy staying upright and getting a win, & Simon 3rd. Rob/Fi were second again. Some things of note must have happened but none of them come to mind. But it was all very wholesome.
And so, quite a cold sailing session came to an end and it was nice to come back to the warmth of the clubhouse, Jonty and Sasha's ace food, and enjoy being baffled by the results the new system is excellent in nearly every respect, just needing a few little wrinkles steamrollering such as number of discards; which I do believe means that Jamie/Luca are currently lying in 1st in the series, level on points with Gilbert K but ahead on count-back. Or it could be the other way around depending on how the count-back rule works but in any case they both have 12 points. Those serial low-achievers Rob/Fi lie third with 18 points. But in a 7-race series there is only one discard (I think) so it's all to play for with those three crews for the honour of the Warming Pan 2023 title. Races 6&7 this Sunday are already being touted as quite possibly the final two races in the series.
Thanks to the race team, mentioned, along with the background crew of Jerry Robinson in the tractor and Jo Nicholls aiding with the flags and hooting.
PP
*I can use this phrase 3 more times this season before I have my fingers crushed in a mangle by the WSC Literary Protection squad
STOP PRESS number of discards is 2 assuming 7 races ARE sailed in which case Rob/Fi might just squeak it.but no less exciting for 2nd/3rd