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Bexhill Sailing Club continued it's Saturday Series of races on 16th May. Twelve boats took to the water for the morning race.

The wind was swinging between Northwest and Southwest Bft3-4 (10-12mph) rising to 4-4 (12-16mph), so the course was laid in a rectangle with the start and the beat going west towards Eastbourne. The lumpy sea and shifting wind made sailing tricky. One Slow fleet helm didn't start the race, and another managed just one lap before retiring. The remainder had a wonderful time to the end!

Colin Coard (Laser) came 1st in Fast fleet, followed by Eve Fifield (Laser Radial) 2nd and Bob Palmer (Laser Radial) 3rd. Novices Adrian Searing and Robbe Dinardo (Club Laser 2000) won their fleet uncontested. Slow fleet was won by Richard Eagleton with crew Cristina Terrazas (Firefly), Rick Parker (Laser 4.7) 2nd and James Tod (Topaz) 3rd. Catamaran fleet's Flo Wright with crew Abi Wright (Dart 16B) came 1st ahead of Dave Baldwin and Wendy Watkins (Dart 16A).

It was decided there would be no afternoon race as the wind conditions had worsened a little too much for the monohulls. However the conditions were perfect for the catamarans, who went out for a blast anyway!

Sunday morning was looking good first thing for Sunday Series Race 3, but by launch time there was a lot of surf and very bumpy conditions on the water, although the westerly wind was not quite a shifty as the day before. Two Slow fleet boats struggled to get launched through the surf, both being battered back to shore, emptying water out, then trying again. Only one Slow fleet boat didn't get away at all, and just as well because 2 Lasers, after multiple capsizes, returning to shore had beach landing assistance! Only 4 boats finished without capsizing - it wasn't for the fainthearted out there! Pete Bennett christened his multi-fluorescent 90's rave buoyancy aid, it was only a matter of time!

Catamaran fleet was won uncontested by Flo Wright with crew Wendy Watkins (Dart 16), not their standard pairing! Fast fleet was won by Arne Lovius (Laser Radial) ahead of Sam Coffey (Laser). Bob Palmer who chose to brush the sand off his Topper for the first time this year came 1st in Slow fleet, Rick Parker (Laser 4.7) 2nd and Cristina Terrazas (Comet Xtra) 3rd. Then the Commodore opened the bar early as a well earned treat for everyone!

A Pursuit race was planned for Sunday afternoon. This kind of race is a little different. All sail as 1 fleet, so there is only 1 winner. There is a staggered start commencing with the dinghies with the highest handicaps. At Bexhill that's most likely to be the little Toppers. Then depending on your boat's handicap you start X minutes later. Toppers start, Comets start 5 minutes later, Laser Radials at 7 minutes, all the way up to Catamarans who start approximately 30 minutes after the Toppers. Whichever boat is in the lead at exactly 60 minutes after the Topper started wins the race, and all finishing places are noted at that point. It's a nightmare for the race management team, but a lot of fun for the sailors. Unfortunately with 20mph winds gusting 25mph it wasn't possible to run the race, so watch this space for the re-scheduling.

The Late May Bank Holiday weekend brings the opportunity of racing in the Late May Short Series on Saturday and Sunday. Hoping for calmer conditions! For more information please visit www.bexhillsailing.club