8th GW Smith trophy race, 24th August 2023
Published 01:00 on 31 Aug 2023
Report by John Adams, photos by Chris Wade
A slightly increased fleet of 10 boats, 6 Lasers and 4 Merlin Rockets took to the water for the penultimate race in this summer's GW Smith series. The wind was generally light but with the occasional stronger puff and predominantly from the southwest. OOD Malcolm Warner set a dogleg course to cover all variations in the wind direction.
True to form, Andy Harris crewed by son Tom in their Merlin led from the start and never looked like relinquishing that lead. However behind him were a few battles, the first of which was between the Merlins of John Adams, crewed by Kris Morcom and David Baker crewed by Barabara Adams for 2nd and 3rd, a battle eventually won by John and Kris after David was brought to a standstill as a result of snagging a fishing line. He released the line unbroken, much to the relief of the angler, and rapidly closed the gap to John Adams, but not quite enough to finish ahead of him.
In the Lasers, Marcus Chavasse and Ros Warwick-Haller swapped places before Marcus prevailed and finished 5th with Ros 6th behind the 4 Merlins. Lyra Wade did very well, finishing ahead of the rest of the Lasers. The action was too hot for Peter Impey and he had to take a couple of cooling dips.
On handicap the first three Merlins, Andy, John and David, kept their on the water places, but Marcus and Ros moved up to 4th and 5th with Chris and William Balmbro in the 4th Merlin dropping to 6th ahead of the remaining Lasers.
Overall Matt P-J still leads in the Ultra N18, with David Baker 2nd in a Merlin and Charles Fox 3rd in his Penultimate N18 and Henry Medcalf 4th in a Firefly, so a good mix of classes. There are still some competitors, Andrew Harris in particular, who still need to sail the final race to drop high scores and move up the ladder and potentially unseat others from the current podium spots.
OOD Malcolm Warner did a great job of running the racing single-handedly, he was without an assistant, and he'd just had an operation on his elbow. He was assisted by Humphrey Dorrell and Ian Wyatt in the Patrol Boat.
After the sailing Jean-Michel provided a very tasty meal of seared salmon fillet, asparagus, buttered new potatoes and carrots with a mixed salad and finished off with homemade brownies and ice cream. Dylan and Yann helped in the kitchen and bar.
Only one more race to go before the summer evening sailing, and suppers, become a memory to help see us through the darker evenings to come. However the race could still influence the podium positions and the supper for next week looks amazing too, so plenty to tempt you down for the sailing, the food and good company.
Last updated 22:17 on 27 April 2025