The Comet Association
Championships were held at North Devon Yacht Club, which is situated in the
estuary of the Taw and
However, by the time the
racing started the estuary had filled up providing a superb sailing area
between the two rivers. The racing area was large enough to allow
triangle-sausage courses irrespective of the wind direction. The sea was only
visible as a line of breaking waves on the horizon. The waves were caused by a
sand bar, which shielded the racing area from any swell coming from the
In race one the majority of
the fleet followed the example set by the Comet Trios, and started at the pin
end of the line. The tide was pushing the boats back from the start, so when
the gun went not much happened as the majority of the competitors were short of
the line. Clive Chapman was first to the windward mark, followed by Henry Jaggers. Unfortunately, Clive hit the mark, which allowed
Eddie Pope, the reigning champion, and John Windibank
to get past. Reaching to the wing mark the effect of the tide became apparent,
as those who didn’t take account of it ended up having to sail close hauled to
make the mark. The tidal currents within the estuary were to have a big impact
on the racing throughout the weekend. Eddie passed Henry to take the lead,
while further back Chris Robinson caught Clive. The race was finished after two
laps, with no further change to the top three positions. As they approached the
finish Clive and Ben Palmer closed on Chris, while Helen Leivers,
sailing out of the tide, threatened to pass them all, but in the end there was
no change in positions.
With the wind beginning to
falter, Richard Stone, the Race Officer, took the decision that it wouldn’t be
feasible to complete the remaining two races before the tide went out, and so
opted for a longer second race. This time the Trios started at the Committee
boat end of the line, and several competitors decided to follow their example,
with the majority of the fleet starting at the pin end. Although the Committee
Boat end initially looked best, those at the pin end sailed into more wind and
slightly less tide, and all of them arrived at the windward mark before the
first boat from the Committee boat end of the line. Henry was first around the
mark, followed by Helen and John. As the wind began to drop the fleet bunched
on the reaching legs, and the front of the fleet
arrived at the leeward mark at the same time as some Trios sailing on the run
of their second lap. Upwind Ben and Eddie took advantage of a big lift and
overtook most of the fleet. Sailing downwind it was difficult to sail against
the tide, and those that got caught in the strong current when the wind dropped
lost out significantly. Ben and Eddie duelled for the lead, with Eddie crossing
the line first, while John Coppenhall finished third.
The third and fourth races
were sailed on the Sunday in very similar conditions. In the first race of the
day the fleet were evenly spread out across the start, however seeing that the
Trios were struggling against the tide to reach the windward mark, all the
competitors quickly sailed to the right hand side of the course to get out of
the tide. Helen kept closest to the centre of the course, where there was more
wind, and got close to the windward mark. However, the mark was in an area of
strong tidal flow, and she was unable to make any progress against the tide,
and was stuck a few yards to leeward of the mark. One by one the boats tacked
out into the tide in attempt to get around the mark. Clive and Henry judged
this correctly and got around the buoy, and with the tide with them, sailed off
towards the wing mark. Chris and Brian Weatherly, learning from their
experience of being caught in adverse tide and no wind the previous day, sailed
the furthest to windward before tacking for the buoy and just made it round as
the wind dropped. The rest of fleet fell short and were left trying to beat to
the mark against the strong adverse tide. The leaders were taken towards the second
mark by the tide, and were in danger of being swept past, but fortunately they
were taken into more wind and were able to sail close hauled up to the buoy. As
Clive and Henry reached the leeward mark the rest of the fleet finally rounded
the first mark, and the Race Officer, seeing how far the fleet had been spread
out, shortened the course. The leading positions remained unchanged as the
boats sailed to the finish line, with Clive winning, Henry second,
and a little later, Chris third and Brian fourth.
In the fourth and final race
the fleet, remembering the previous race, sailed to the edge of the course.
Being more cautious, many overstood the windward
mark. John Windibank was first to the buoy, followed
by Ben and Eddie. Eddie passed Ben, and gave chase to John. These two gradually
began to pull away from the fleet, but their positions didn’t change. On the
second beat the wind dropped again, but by now it was slack water, so there was
no difficultly in rounding the windward mark. Chris passed Ben, and on the
beat, remembering that the tide had now turned, kept out in the middle of the
estuary where the tide was strongest, and pulled away. However, the reach to
the wing mark was now against the tide, and as the wind dropped again he found
he was unable to run against the tide to the buoy. The wind eventually filled
in from behind bringing the rest of the fleet with it. Michael Ettershank sailed passed to take third position. On the
reach to the final mark, there were several changes in position as the wind
swung around, with John Coppenhall taking fourth
place.
Overall Eddie’s two firsts
from day one, together with his second place in the last race gave him the
Championship. Henry’s first three results were enough to give him second place,
while John Windibank’s win in the final race ensured
he was third overall.
Chris Robinson & Clive
Chapman