Pascoes are Leaders (From Dorset Echo)

Pascoes are Leaders

8:10am Friday 30th December 2011 in News

TWENTY-SEVEN boats ventured out on Boxing Day morning to take part in Weymouth Sailing Club’s annual festive sailing event.

National squibs, dinghies – new for this year – and keelboats enjoyed unseasonably warm weather, which was a little overcast.

However, the wind gods chose to be pedantic by blowing old boots out in the bay but as the fleets started to tack up the River Wey against the ebbing spring tide, the wind began to drop and some boats had to retire as they were sailing backwards faster than they were moving forward.

One boat who hit Condor Vittesse last year wisely kept well clear of the fast cat this time around, nevertheless, in doing so managed to get stuck on a mud bank below the Nothe Fort cafe instead, but wriggled free to finish.

As is customary, the commodore is race officer for the day and Mark Bugler did not disappoint, setting a course that kept even the fastest keelboats out on the water for over two hours, enabling local sailors the chance to enjoy one last race this year.

Starting adjacent to the moored superyacht Tattoosh, boats beat to the Stone Pier, which enabled spectators the chance to view the boats at close quarters, before turning away with spinnakers filled for a two-mile and one-half-a-mile downwind blast to Bowleaze Cove, before turning and facing the wind to tack back to a mark off the end of the Oasis cafe.

Another spinnaker run to the middle of the bay before finally beating back up the river to the sound of cannon fire as competitors finished outside of the WSC clubhouse.

First in the squibs was Dave McCune on Inky Finger, first in the dinghies was Megan and Sam Pascoe on the appropriately named Leader while the winner in the large fleet of keelboats, one of the largest turnouts on record, was Joel Wood on Excalibur.

For boats still in the water, the first race of the New Year is on January 1, with a 10.30am start.

Sailors will be clearing away the cobwebs from the previous evening’s celebrations at the clubhouse seeing in the New Year.

After brunch at the club after racing, the annual lifeboat prize draw takes place.

Weymouth Sailing club committee members each bring in a bottle of spirits as prizes for the draw. Club members collected more than £1,300 last year for the local lifesavers.