Easter Tuning weekend at Pwllheli Sailing Club
by Vicky Cox 11 Apr 2023 01:30 PDT
Perfect Easter weather and plenty of excitement on Mojito for the first sail of the year - Easter Tuning weekend at Pwllheli © Ben Cartwright
The Easter weather was perfect for a tune up, with light winds at the start, gradually increasing by the end, to get everyone eased back into sailing after winter. Saturday's first official race of the year saw a very pleasant day, bright sunshine and winds SE 7-10kts.
There was added excitement with the launch and trial of two new arrivals to the racing fleet - J70s 'Mojito Bach' and 'Sgrech Bach' and with the commissioning of the new crane at Pwllheli, there is already talk of a couple more being considered and the start of a new fleet.
First race - Paul and Sam Kitteringham's Elan 350 Finally we're determined to beat Peter Dunlop and Victoria Cox's J109 Mojito to the start line, just managing to get in ahead of them for some very close racing. They were followed by the J70's Mojito Bach, and Sgrech Bach.
Round the 1st mark up wind and the J109 showed how good it was at pointing up wind, with Mojito taking the lead, followed by Mojito Bach ending neck and neck with Finally by the next mark.
Downwind and a number of mistakes by Mojito allowed Finally to get ahead again, while and furling issues on Mojito Bach allowed Sgrech Bach to close in on them. Positions changed in the fleet throughout the rest of the race but first over the finish line were Mojito taking 2nd overall on handicap, followed by Finally taking 3rd overall and Mojito Bach taking top spot on their debut sail, skippered and helmed by Christopher Jones.
By the second race Mojito started settling into the racing after their winter break, getting a good start ahead of Finally and the two J70s, finishing nearly 5 minutes ahead of everyone on the water. Mojito Bach took 2nd overall on handicap followed by Mark Thompson and Stephen Tudor's J70 'Sgrech Bach'.
Easter Sunday, and in contrast to Saturday, hazy skies brought a chill in the wind of 13-20kts, initially from the southeast but gradually veering to south-southeast. As is always the case at Pwllheli, easterlies bring quite a chop on the water, which definitely tested the sea legs of all the crews after the winter break.
The first race, run by race officer Robin Evans saw Mojito getting ahead at the start and then gaining a significant lead at the leeward mark, where Finally had some issues ditching their kite. However lack of crew and navigational errors saw Mojito head to the wrong mark twice, before having to rejoin the course at the back of the fleet and settle for third overall on handicap, just one second behind Finally. Mojito Bach, again skippered by Christopher Jones, took another win, finishing a full 6 minutes ahead of the rest of the fleet on handicap.
Race 2 and Mojito managed to find form again taking a comfortable win, followed by Mojito Bach and Finally.
As Easter Monday brought heavy winds and significant rain, many crews decided not to race, and the Easter Series was concluded with Mojito Bach winning overall. Mojito took 2nd, Finally 3rd and Steve Walmsley's Serenity won cruiser class.
With no one to race, Mojito were left to test out a new kite on the Commodore's challenge course of: start, round the St Tudwall islands (including Carreg y Trai buoy) all to port and back to the finish.
Mojito are the first boat to put a time on the board for the commodore's challenge at a very beatable 1hour and 55 minutes. Why not have a go and email your time in to the club to see how you fare.
Nigel Ingram's Farr 30, Wild haggis and Andrew Hall's J125 Jackknife were also out in the bay over the weekend. Wild haggis calibrating instruments and Jackknife checking rig and sails ahead of the first of three weekends of ISORA coastal races, starting next weekend. Club coastal races will be run in conjunction with the ISORA races. More details of the coastal races will be on the www.ISORA.org website with club race details following shortly after at www.PwllheliSailingClub.co.uk
Everyone agreed it was a very productive and enjoyable weekend with several crews meeting up and socialising together after racing.