Adam Smith, Sunday, 13 January 2013
A close competition in our own Amazing Race held on Saturday
10 keen young sailors fronted for the Annual Three Peaks race on Saturday afternoon. With wind gusting to 22 knots it was decided not to run the Optimist Division but 4 of the club Pacers were rigged and crews allocated to each of these. Last year's winners the Burley family were split up with Max Burley paired up with Jess Donnelly and Tom Burley sailing with his friend Toby. Vincent Cross and James Fleming were joined by family friend Oscar and the fourth boat was crewed by Will Fleming, Alistair Gray and Joshua Smith.
Max and Jess took an early lead as the boats headed off the beach towards their first check-point out on the bay. Tom and Toby suffered some rigging issus with the boat and as the lightest crew were struggling a little with the conditions, so Alistair Burley tranferred from the rescue boat to lend a hand. As the boats headed towards Merricks the experience of Vincent and James shone through and they moved into the lead (despite the handicapper giving them a boat with a slightly smaller mainsail). Will, Alistair and Josh stayed close behind as the boats raced back towards a point on the beach to the east of the club. As the boats headed for the checkpoint at Somers, Max and Jess were hit with agust and found themselves in the water. The managed to right the boat but decided to withdraw and head back for a hot shower. James, Vincent and Oscar brooched badly as they left the beach at Somers allowing Wil, Alistair and Josh to sneak into the lead - a position they managed to hold all the way back to the beach at Balnarring with enough of a margin to out sprint their competition up to the Jim Douglas Race Box to take first place. Vincent, James and Oscar were a close second and Alistair, Tom and Toby closed the gap to finish third.
Last Modified on 15/01/2013 06:37