Low water levels deterred a number of sailors from competing in Welland Yacht Club’s Ralph Gibson Trophy, leaving just five boats lining up for race one.
The wind direction meant a port end start was favoured and Andy Prior in his Laser made best use of this and was able to pull out a good lead on the first beat.
Alistair Mitchell was in second place in his Laser Radial, holding off Sandor Kecskemeti in his full rig Laser. Ian Thompson in a Solo was next with Richard Stedman crewed by Toby Schrauwers bringing up the rear in a Comet Duo.
Prior continued to extend his lead throughout the race but Kecskemeti managed to pull ahead of Mitchell as both boats rounded the downwind mark.
He held this lead until the final beat to the finish line where he got too close to the bank and grounded the centreboard in the mud which allowed Mitchell to cross the line in second. Ian Thompson took fourth place both on the water and on handicap with Steadman taking fifth.
The fleet was down to four for the second race and the OOD set an interesting course of two, one, three times.
With the wind having increased slightly but still favouring a port end start Kecskemeti got away cleanly and was challenging Prior for the lead for all of the windward leg. Prior arrived at buoy two first but sailed past it and although Kecskemeti knew the correct course Prior managed to confuse him and he rounded poorly dropping back to third place behind Prior and Mitchell who rounded well. The fleet remained closely bunched for the rest of the lap but Prior managed to pull out a good lead over the final two laps to finish well clear with Mitchell crossing second shortly ahead of Thompson with Kecskemeti finishing fourth after capsizing on the final run.
The two first places gave Prior the trophy from Mitchell with Thompson third and Kecskemeti fourth.
