James Dyas won the Nat Phillips Pursuit Trophy with four wins from four races on Sunday October 16th.
The day started in very light winds and the race officers Tricia Evison, Clive Church and Martin Ashworth set a course starting from the line at the OD box, down to a D buoy taken to port and set just after the bend midstream towards the Buckinghamshire bank. Then a long run down to the A buoy also taken to port and set midstream, the sailors returned downstream to the B buoy also taken to port and set close to the Berkshire bank on the bend. Finally they returned to the club jetty and rounded the C buoy set midstream and also taken to port.
The pursuit race consists of class starts with start times dependent on the handicap of the class. The Lightnings were the slowest boats and so started first with the OK, Enterprise and Laser starting two minutes later and finally the lone Phantom starting a further three minutes forty-five seconds later.
Four Lightning 368 dinghies took the start and crept off downwind towards the bend with Andrew Yuille (LN 446) and Mary Webb (LN 178) edging ahead as they reached the bend. The wind increased slightly with a slight direction change filling the sails as they headed for the D buoy. By the time they reached the bend, the OKs and Laser started with Gary Adshead (OK 1998) and James Dyas (OK 2203) pulling ahead in the second pack as they got to the bend. Round the top mark, Andrew Yuille had taken the lead and started to pull away and on the tacks back to the B buoy, James Dyas and Gary passed the other three Lightnings one by one. The other three OKs and Laser caught up to the back of the Lightning pack with Andrew Boxer (OK 2196) passing Duncan Watts (LN 431) and Mary. Clive Evison (P 1355) had also passed the pack of Laser, three OKs and three Lightnings by the end of the lap. The fleet started the second lap with Andrew Yuille leading by a couple of seconds ahead of James Dyas and Gary a further four seconds behind in third. Clive Evison was in fourth and led a second pack a minute and forty seven seconds behind the leader, Andrew Boxer fifth and battling with Clive, Duncan sixth, Mary seventh, James Long eighth, Nick Reuter (L 125425) ninth, Jerome Dreux (OK 2007) tenth and Nigel Webb (LN 372) eleventh. James Dyas took the lead early on the second lap and started to pull away, whilst Gary and Andrew Yuille battled for second. Gary passed Andrew and also pulled out a gap in second and on the upwind leg. Andrew Boxer has repassed Clive as the pair passed the pack of Lightnings and closed in on Andrew Yuille, eventually catching and passing for third and fourth places. Mary had sailed an excellent lap and closed the gap to Andrew in sixth with Duncan seventh. James Dyas was passing the bend as the finishing hooter sounded and they finished James first, Gary second, Andrew Boxer third, Clive fourth, Andrew Yuille fifth, Mary sixth, Duncan seventh, James Long eighth, Nick ninth, Jerome tenth and Nigel eleventh.
The sailors returned from the course with some returning from the top end, so there was a sizeable delay to get everyone back to the start line. In the gap, the wind picked up slightly, particularly upstream of the bend. Hugo Stephens joined the Lightning pack in his RS and they set of again followed two minutes later by the OKs, Laser and Clive bringing up the rear. This time, Andrew Yuille was raced closely by Duncan as they rounded the top buoy and headed back upwind and the pair pulled out a healthy lead on the other two Lightnings and RS. In the OK pack, Nick Reuter made the best start by finding some wind on the Berkshire bank and led all the way to the bend, but James Dyas took the lead at the bend as he found the stronger winds on the top of the course from the midstream. James Long moved into second place and by the time they reached the A buoy, the two James’s had pulled out a strong lead over the rest of the second starting pack. At the end of lap, Duncan had a good lead of thirty three seconds over Andrew Yuille, twenty seconds behind James Dyas was third, James Long was a couple of seconds behind in fourth, a minute and thirty seven seconds back Andrew Boxer was fifth, Hugo sixth, Mary seventh, Gary eighth, Jerome ninth, Nick tenth, Clive eleventh and Nigel twelfth. James Long found a dead spot of wind between the C buoy and the bend and dropped back from James Dyas who started closing on the two Lightnings in the lead. They were caught at the bottom of the course near the A buoy and James passed to take the lead. Andrew Boxer caught and passed James Long for fourth on the downwind leg to the buoy with Gary also closing in. At the end of the lap, James Dyas led by fifty seconds from Andrew Yuille who held a tiny gap over Duncan in third. Andrew Boxer was fourth thirty seconds behind, James Long fifth, Gary sixth, Clive seventh, Jerome eighth, Mary ninth and Nick eleventh. Nigel retired from the race at the end of the lap. The wind now started to pick up upstream of the bend and Clive scythed his way through the field past Gary who retired with a broken centreboard, James Long, Andrew Boxer and then crossing the gap to Duncan and Andrew. James Long started catching Andrew Boxer and they rounded the A buoy together contesting fifth place. He had just passed them both when the finishing hooter went and James Dyas won, Clive second, Andrew Yuille third, Duncan fourth, Andrew fifth, James Long sixth, Jerome seventh, Mary eighth, Nick ninth and Hugo tenth.
There was hope for the afternoon’s race as the wind had picked up at the end of the second race, but it died off again during the lunch hour and the third race started with the probably the lightest winds of the day. Nigel and Hugo decided to sit out the afternoon races and the Wyatt’s Enterprise joined the second pack of starters. Gary Adshead had rigged up the club OK (OK 1695) to sail in the afternoon after his mechanical failure at the end of the morning races. The three Lightnings took the start and crept down to the bend at a painfully slow pace followed two minutes by the OKs, Laser and Enterprise. Andrew Yuille moved into the lead by the A buoy and in the second fleet, James Dyas had a clear lead. By the time they returned to the bend, Andrew Yuille had a clear lead over the rest and at the line led by a minute and a half with Mary second, Duncan third, James catching the two Lightnings thirty seconds back in fourth. Peter and Sally Wyatt (E 22828) held a small gap in fifth over Andrew Boxer in sixth and then a sizeable two-minute gap to James Long seventh, Gary eighth, Jerome ninth and Nick tenth. Clive was last but chasing after the pack already.
During the second lap, James Dyas caught and passed the Lightnings, but Andrew Yuille had pulled out a significant gap and led James by two minutes at the end of the lap. Duncan passed Mary into third place and the two Lightnings still held a good gap over the rest with Andrew Boxer almost a minute behind them in fifth as he had battled with and then passed the Wyatt’s Enterprise. Clive had caught up with Nick and Jerome and passed them and then passed James Long rounding the C buoy at the start of the third lap. Back up at the top of the course, James Dyas rounded the A buoy and caught Andrew Yuille and they battled back down the course on the tacks for the lead. Andrew Boxer caught the two Lightnings and passed them for third. Clive managed to pass the Wyatts just as the hooter sounded, so the race was won by James Dyas with Andrew Yuille a close second, Andrew Boxer third, Mary fourth, Duncan fifth, Clive sixth, Peter and Sally seventh, James Long eighth, Nick ninth, Gary tenth and Jerome eleventh.
The wind picked up slightly for the final race of the day and the Lightnings set off once more. Andrew Yuille and Duncan fought closely all the way up the course to the A buoy with Andrew edging ahead on the tacks back to the club. Behind, the second start group commenced and James Dyas, the Wyatts and Andrew Boxer battled for the lead up the course with the rest chasing. James moved into a clear lead and passed Mary on the tacks back down the course. James Long had eased away from the chasing pack as they passed the bend and chased after the group containing the two OKs and the Enterprise. During the second lap, James Dyas caught and passed Duncan moving into second and closed on Andrew Yuille. Clive had passed Nick, Jerome and Gary during the upwind leg of the second lap and he passed James whilst rounding the C buoy starting the third lap. Gary retired at the end of the lap after problems with the club OK’s bailers. James Dyas had battled with Andrew Yuille all the way downwind on the third lap and moved into the lead on the return leg. Behind these two, Andrew had caught Duncan and passed for third. The placings were therefore close with James and Andrew battling for the lead and Andrew and Duncan fighting over third. After rounding the C buoy together, Clive and James Long closed in on the Wyatts who were stuck in a dead patch on the Bucks bank after the D buoy, so Clive and James decided to return back over to the Berkshire bank after rounding the buoy where there was some wind. As they closed in on the Enterprise, the Wyatts managed to get going again and the three battled up the course to the A buoy with Clive slightly ahead of the Wyatts and James. Clive decided to tack over to the Berkshire bank giving up position as he did so whilst James found a small puff to move ahead of the Enterprise just as the finishing hooter sounded, so James finished fifth, the Wyatts sixth and Clive and unfortunate seventh. Mary finished eighth, Jerome ninth and Nick tenth.
After four wins out of four, James Dyas won the Nat Phillips Pursuit Trophy with Andrew Yuille runner up.