The second Open Meeting of the 2007 series was held at Black Swan Sailing Club, near Reading on Saturday 31st March.

Eighteen visitors and four local helms participated in the day’s three races. The generally sunny weather was regularly punctuated by often violent squalls gusting up to F8 making for very difficult conditions even for the most experienced helms.

The first race saw a tight start in a gentle F3. Richard Pakes was first to reach the windward mark, closely followed by Neil Boneham and Bruce Howett. By the middle of the race, Mike Gibson had powered through the fleet to challenge Richard Pakes to the lead. By now the wind had built to a F4 with staccato F6 gusts which caused the fleet to spread out due to numerous capsizes. Richard Pakes was first across the line followed by Bruce Howett and Mike Gibson.

Race two started after a warming lunch and with a revised course. As the skies darkened Richard Pakes was first to round the windward mark followed by Bruce Howlett. During the ensuing laps, Pakes established a considerable lead. After about 30 minutes, a vicious F7-8 squall swept across the lake leaving most dinghies capsized and the rest fleeing for shelter; at this point the race was abandoned on grounds of safety as several crew-less dinghies were seen to fly through the air.

The fleet regrouped and the final race started in yet another squall with many boats struggling to even cross the line. Again Richard Pakes was first to reach the first mark with Mike Gibson and Neil Boneham in pursuit. The race continued in winds gusting F5-6 with Richard Pakes crossing the finish line first followed by Mike Gibson and Paul Earnshaw.

Overall Results:

Full Results