Noble Marine Supernova Travellers at Carsington Sailing Club

Twenty-seven Supernovas travelled to the Derbyshire Dales to join six local boats for the second half of a Noble Marine weekend double bill that followed the Saturday event at Swarkestone. They were greeted with sunshine and a steady f3-4 from the south west although there was a forecast for some rain later in the day.

Race Officer Henry Wright caused some surprise at the pre-race briefing by announcing that the start sequence would be 4,2, go instead of the more usual 5,4,1 method. A few heads were scratched as to how to reprogram watches.

The fleet took to the water at 10:45 for the run down to the race area avoiding the club racing already running at the dam end of the lake. A triangle sausage course was set with an offset mark 10m from the windward, and the fleet prepared for the shortened start sequence. At the gun it was clear that some were over the line but only one signal was given for an individual recall. It transpired that consistent top five finisher Tim Hand from Sutton in Ashfield was OCS although maybe one or two others 'got away with it'. The fleet rapidly strung out leaving the author unable to comment on the cut and thrust of the front runners.

In the middle of the fleet there was close racing for all, one of the great benefits of the doing the Supernova events. Positions changed frequently as helms were caught out (or in irons) by the gusts under the dark clouds that were now coming up from the SW. The two reaches of the triangle made for exciting racing for all. After 2.5/5 laps the winner was Cotswold 'Boy Wonder' Robin Kirby in front of his two mentors Gavin Young and Cliff Milliner. In fourth was newcomer and long distance traveller Alistair Glen from Exe.

Race two followed straight on with an unchanged course. This time there were no recalls and the fleet got away cleanly. Although the weather was looking more ominous with dark clouds and rain starting to fall the wind didn't increase or shift appreciably. This time Glen managed to split the Cotswold duo of Milliner first and Kirby third. In the middle the author wasn't caught in irons once!!. It was a long beat back to the club for lunch as the rain started to fall in earnest. The worst of the weather passed while the fleet were enjoying a short lunch in a very busy Carsington clubhouse. With two races down Kirby and Milliner were neck and neck with a first and third each. Could the 'Boy Wonder' and fleet publicity officer hold his nerve and see off many time national champion Milliner?

Race three got underway got underway at 14:15. The rain had passed and the wind had dropped slightly compared to the morning. A shift after the start meant that most of the fleet could fetch the windward mark on one port tack. This made it tough for the contenders to gain advantage by reading the shifts (or is that get lucky). Some helms however were caught out by the offset mark being higher than the windward mark and the author(and possibly others) was embarrassed to have to put in a short tack between the two on the first lap. This time it was another Supernova newcomer, Andrew Snell from Spinnaker SC, who split the Cotswold pair of Milliner and Young.

So it wasn't to be Robin's day the overall result being a Cotswold 123 of: 1st Cliff Milliner, 2nd Robin Kirby and 3rd Gavin Young. First master and 4th overall was Alistair Glen from Exe and first Veteran was Tom Chadfield from nearby Blithfield SC.

The Supernovas now move on a few miles to Attenbourgh on 10th June before the nationals at Mountbatten Plymouth at the end of the month. The stalwarts are still there at the front but the are some new challengers emerging to keep it interesting.

Overall Results: