Better late than never?  We'll keep you in suspense for a while on how it all eneded - day 2 report to follow soon...!
 
The
legendary Uffa Fox used to contend that the boat that made one mistake would
come first, two mistakes for second etc. 
 

Well,
judging by the performance of the RS100 sailors at the Rutland Sprints this
year, it would not have been unfair if the points had started at 7 for a win
rather than 1 but luckily the scoring system does not work like that. The
spirit of Uffa was with us nevertheless; the cry “(I did that for) Uffa Fox’ Sake”
was heard far too many times. 
 

With
six 20-minute races, senility means it’s all a bit of a blur, so this write up
is going to be more of a personal confessions edition… 
 

Absent
David Smart, your usual correspondent, fell off his bicycle, now has a limp
wrist and claims he will not be able to sail until September. Fortunately, this
does mean we will not have to put up with the wobbly blue stripe making us all
sea-sick until then. 
 

As
a general observation, our starting was pathetic. In the third race, virtually
the whole fleet was miles from the line when the gun went, at which there was a
spontaneous and universal burst of laughing at our own ineptitude. 
 

In
points order, the low-lights for each of us go something like this:



Smug
Steve Lee was the least muppet-ish of us, but still managed to spend most of
the first race capsized (it really was not sufficiently windy to justify any
capsizes). “What other errors Steve?” we asked. “None.” He’s lying. 
 

Huw
Powell (and Greg, but no surprises in his case) decided that that OOD had got
the course wrong and decided to skip the leeward spreader mark in the first
race. Huw also capsized rounding the first leeward mark in the second, giving
some of us not much time do dodge running over his rig. 
 

Being
a boring Chartered Accountant, your correspondent manifested this
characteristic by rescuing 4 consecutive thirds from the numerous errors,
including going from first to sixth in one leg and capsizing at the leeward
spreader by deciding to pull in the last foot of kite rather than keep the boat
upright. 
 

Goodness
only knows how Chairman Mark Harrison is fourth overall after Saturday,
probably benefiting from the sins of others. His highlights include capsizing
right next to the committee boat right on the gun (he spent so long recovering,
we thought he was having another of his Cadbury’s Flake breaks). He also admits
to being in reverse on another start-gun.  
 

Pining-for-his-Daemon-Smartie,
Greg Booth is next. Got lost and capsized in race 1. “I was always up there at
the beginning, but not at the end.” Clearly these 20 minute races are a bit too
long for the poor old boy. 

Paul
Luttman: “Missing the briefing did not help. Nor did having someone steal my
rudder when I went to collect the boat this morning.” Clearly things improved
as the day went on with a second in race 6 – fitter than Greg obvs. 
 

Mostyn
Evans was airing his new boat and going better than with the old one – even
with shiny-slippery new ropes. How does he manage to get his other-half to rig
his boat for him? His biggest bane was Clive applying some devious tricks to
get past him on more than one occasion.





Simon
Geyman’s day started well with a couple of rigging errors (we’ve all been
there). Tomorrow’s another day. 
 

Paul
Drewary: “I fell in lots (this is allowed in a first season) but can
report that the slot gaskets are OK” 

Will
we be any less bad tomorrow? Time will tell. The points are pretty tight, so
there is still all to play for.
 





Clive
Eplett