Paignton Open

The Contender fleet gathered on the green at Paignton together with a number of other classes to participate in the Paignton Open for Single Hander (POSH) regatta, the sun was shinning, clear blue skies and the rain had finally stopped with a better than expected breeze in the bay greeting the 13 contenders.

The first race was started on time with the Assymetric classes first to go on a windward/leeward course, followed by the RS600, Contenders and phantoms. Tom Hooton was quick up the first beat and first to the windward mark. The wind had swung by the end of the first reach of the Trapezoid course making the run a broad reach and the bottom reach a fetch, the rest of race was all about boat speed as the beat was now another fetch. Graham scott had made his way into the lead followed by Matt Aston and Tom Hooton.

After an adjustment to the marks race 2 followed with a bit less wind, with marginal trapezing, avoiding the windless patches was key to getting around and again Graham scott showed the way to the finish line first followed by Matt Aston and Chris Howe.

By the start of race 3 the wind had dropped to around 5 knots and we once again set off up the beat, first to the windward mark was Graham scott followed by Tony Brooks. After two rounds it was Graham Scott first followed by fast Matt Aston taking second place from Tony Brooks in the last 10 metres.

Sunday dawned sunny but windless with a ½ hour postponement for the first start with the OOD sure that the breeze would fill in by 11:00, the boats launched into a light breeze that increased steadily for race 4. Nick Grace had been a little premature at the start and having sailed a good race was deemed to be OCS. Graham Scott was first at the finish with Simon Mussell second and David Evans in 3rd. The wind was now building steadily and swung round to the south west, so a long delay whilst the OOD swung the course round and waited for the wind to settle. Race 5 started with the Pin end favoured, Nick Grace set off once again a little early to get another OCS. Both the reaches were now a little more exciting with the second and third beats definitely paying to keep right. At the end of the race it was Graham scott first, followed by Matt Aston and Ed Presley.

Graham Scott had won the event with 5 firsts followed by a consistent Matt Aston with 4 seconds. A big thank you to Paignton Sailing Club for a great event.

Overall Results: