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Simon Horsfield and Gemma Burridge retain the Gold Cup

Congratulations to Simon Horsfield and Gemma Burridge on retaining the Gold Cup at last weekend’s IS Asymmetric Dinghy Champs. Congratulations too to Josh Crisp and Ross Southwell on winning the Grant Trophy.

The Regional Coach reports:

The weekend started off with a light wind forecast with the favoured sailing day being Saturday. There was a strong turnout from the Army Team fielding 7 out of the fleet of 11 racing boats.

The day began with a light E-SE 5-8 knots of wind with the course being set just outside Thorney Channel to the South of Pilsey Island.

Race 1 saw Si Horsfield (Army) & Gemma Burridge return to winning ways and take 1st position, with Kev O’Brien (Obi) take 2nd (RAF) and Josh Crisp 3rd (Army).

Race 2 saw a split in the fleet with Si and Gemma taking a low line and the fleet taking a high line to the leeward mark.  With the unfortunate drop in wind and increasing tide this favoured the rest of the fleet with Obi taking 1st position, Josh 2nd and Si 3rd place.

Race 3 saw Si and Gemma and break away from the fleet and demonstrate their superior light wind skills, as they were approaching the windward mark with a clear advantage, the race officer (Matt Sargent) anticipated the drop in wind conditions and raised the N flag for abandoning the race.  A very frustrated fleet of sailors returned however 5 mins later the wind dropped,  and crews reverted to swimming and using hatch covers to make way.

With racing postponed it was 30mins before the wind began to fill in again from the SW and the fleet had started to make their way homeward however after a recall,  and the mark laying team swiftly relocating the course to the opposite side of the channel and racing recommenced.

Race 3, had an eventful start with a 8-10 knot wind and a strong ebb tide resulting in 2 boats being OCS (over the start line), Obi (RAF) and Josh Crisp (Army).  Unfortunately they did not hear the call from the committee boat nor see the Individual recall flag and carried on racing.  With 2 of the top three boats out of the race this allowed the Navy’s Matt Irwin, Ben Flowerdew (Army) ,  Adi Parry (Army), Bruce Eckman (Army) to creep up the standings with their best finishes – a good 2,3,4,7 position respectively.

Due to the Sunday’s forecast of light winds the Race Officer decided to push for another 2 races which was the correct call.

Race 4 & 5 saw the wind increase to 8-12 knots and with ebb tide kicking in it saw the fleet racing in closer vicinity.  Si & Gemma consolidated their top position with two 1st place finishes, with Josh taking consistent results of 2,3 (even with a boat full of water as it was leaking!) pushing Obi down into 3rd and 4th.

Day 2 – Saw the Race officer and mark laying team go out early to access the conditions but unfortunately Matt had to abandon racing for the day as the sea breeze was not going to kick in early enough to overcome the strong flooding tide.

Congratulations to Simon Horsfield and Gemma Burridge on retaining the overall Gold Cup and Josh Crisp and Ross Southwell for winning the Inter Services Asymmetric Cup – The Grant Trophy.  Thanks to the AISTC team for delivering the event and for the generous sponsorship from BFBS sport.