7th GW Smith trophy race, 17th August 2023
Published 01:00 on 22 Aug 2023
Report by John Adams
The 7th race in the GW Smith series was sailed in a wind which was marked as southeasterly but was all over the place, varying markedly in both direction and strength and enough to exasperate even the most phlegmatic of skippers. OOD David Peregrine-Jones set a dogleg course for the 8 competitors, 2 Merlins, 4 Lasers and 2 N18s.
David Baker and Carolyne Vines in their Merlin led after the first lap but Matt P-J and Alastair Banks in their N18 were travelling fast, took the lead by the end of the second lap and extended that as the race continued, finishing a lap ahead of the rest of the fleet. Behind them David and Carolyne kept a good gap between themselves and the boats behind and finished 2nd ahead of Chris and William Balmbro in the second Merlin. Charles Fox and Rober Blakebrough in the second N18 swapped places with Chris and William throughout the race but finished behind them in 4th. In the Lasers Peter Impey and Jim Hamilton had a seesaw battle with Jim eventually finishing 5th, just ahead of Peter with Lyra Wade 7th in the third Laser.
On handicap, Matt P-J and Alastair had finished far enough ahead to retain their lead, with David and Carolyne in 2nd and Charles and Robert in the N18 moving up a place to finish 3rd.
Overall Matt P-J is now unassailable, discarding a 1st place. David Baker is 2nd at the moment in his Merlin with Charles Fox 3rd in his N18 in 3rd place just ahead of Henry Medcalf in a Firefly. However while Matt cannot now be beaten there could be changes in the places below him if more competitors sail the last two races and start discarding their higher scores. It would be good to see a few more competitors on the water, and eating the fabulous suppers, for the two final races in the 2023 GW Smith trophy.
Thanks go to David P-J as the OOD, assisted by Jim Green in the box and Ron Williamson and Adrian Warwick-Haller in the patrol boat.
Jean-Michel prepared a chicken casserole and rice accompanied by broccoli and a mixed salad, topped off with apple crumble and custard. Definitely worth coming down for even if you weren't sailing! He was ably helped in the bar and kitchen by May and Charlotte.
Last updated 22:17 on 27 April 2025