Sunday arrived with leaden skies for the latest activities at Welland Yacht Club.
A fresh breeze was welcome, even if it was from an unusual direction, blowing on to the clubhouse to make launching and sail hoisting difficult. With water levels low, it was a tricky start.
The opening race was a course of buoy 4 and back to no.1 twice, giving the chance to stretch the legs and sit out.
Five boats were at the start and it was Mark Scourfield in the Solo who gained the port end advantage on the tight reach. He was followed by Alistair Mitchell in the Laser Radial after a mid-river start, Andy Agar in the OK dinghy, Adam Stabler in the Solo and Eric Murray in the Mirror.
The reach tightened just after Shellys Bush Corner and when Chilvers Corner was reached, no.4 buoy looked a distance as the boats had equal tacks to get there.
Scourfield had clear air and managed to hold on to his lead from Mitchell and Agar, who had a tacking duel. The run back with the wind strength fresh may have been a concern with the gybe on Chilvers Corner. Scourfield caught a gust while in the process and had his boom in the water but narrowly avoided a swim to keep the distance from Mitchell and Agar.
Lap two saw the battle for second place swapping between Mitchell and Agar. At the conclusion it was Scourfield first, three minutes ahead of Agar, followed by Mitchell, just six seconds behind, and Stabler. On corrected time, Scourfield finished two minutes ahead of Mitchell, who was a minute ahead of Agar, with Murray fourth and Stabler fifth.
The same boats came to the start for the second race, with Stabler repairing his tiller. With the port end again favoured, it was Scourfield who was away first after engaging in some start line luffing with Agar who was close behind. Stabler started mid-river and was third, ahead of Murray and Mitchell, who managed to get head to wind at the off and had some catching up to do.
Wind strength had stayed the same with some interesting holes as it came over the bank, followed by some tasty gusts to keep everyone on their toestraps.
Scourfield rounded Chilvers Corner first on the beat and Agar held on to him while Mitchell had recovered to move into third.
The mark rounding was kind on both buoys with no gybe but no.4 buoy had to be rounded with caution because the wind was strong there.
Scourfield held on to his lead to cross first, ahead of Agar, Mitchell, Stabler and Murray, who finished on the one-lap timing.
After the handicaps were applied, Scourfield kept first place with the only change being a swap between Murray and Stable.
Current standings in the series are: 1 Scourfield 4pts, 2 Chapman 9, 3 Mitchell 11.
Racing on the river continues every Sunday up to and including Boxing Day.
