After a few weeks of very light winds, some slightly stronger winds of about 12 knots from the northeast produced some good racing for round 7 of the Summer Frolic series. Jerome Dreux (OD) laid out a course with an upstream start to the middle B buoy (taken on starboard) on the bend of the Berkshire bank. The top A buoy was positioned between the bend and Andrews beach and taken to starboard with a short leg back to the downstream middle D buoy taken to port and back to the bottom C buoy taken to starboard which was positioned above the start/finish line.
Seven sailors took the delayed start for the first race including Warren de Reuck (club LN 304) for his first ever race at the club. Gary Adshead (OK 1998) made his usual excellent start and led the fleet followed by Warren, Mary Webb (LN 178), Christine Roy (LN 403), Tanja van Wyngaardt / Cara Ivers (E 20156), Christine Roy (LN 403) and James Long (OK 1990). Andrew Boxer (OK 2196) trailed the fleet after a late start.
There was a good battle between the fleet up to the first buoy with light winds and several pockets of wind direction changes causing issues for most of the sailors. The middle part of the course had some good wind and was more gusty, helped by the withy cutting which had taken place over the previous two days. By the end of the first lap, James Long had come through the fleet and was chasing after Gary who still held a healthy lead with Mary Webb close behind. During the second lap James took the lead, but Gary quickly retook the lead when James got stuck in swirling winds on the downstream leg between the bend and the C buoy. During the second lap, Andrew Boxer ran aground on the Berkshire bank near the bend and got his rudder stuck in the mud and retired from the race after taking to the water to pull his boat out.
Gary pulled out a good gap during the rest of the race with James pulling out a small gap on Mary and they finished in those position, with Mary taking second on handicap. Warren finished fourth ahead of Christine.
After lunch, a course change added a second buoy to the leg up the course to introduce a dog leg in the middle of the upstream course with the introduction of an E buoy taken to port. Tricia Evison (LN 412) and Kira Swinney (LN 114) joined the fleet and Gary Adshead left and wasn’t able to sail for the rest of the day. The sailors lined up at the start line jostling for position and there was some close racing at the start with Mary and Tricia leading the fleet. During the first lap Mary and Tricia fought for the lead with James and Andrew chasing. James took the lead during the second lap but was caught and passed by Mary and Andrew on the downwind leg between the D and C buoys. A good battle between the three for the next lap saw Andrew lead going into the final lap with James chasing and the two OKs opened a gap on Mary in stronger winds up the course. On the final leg downwind James took a different course closer to the Berkshire bank and took the lead when Andrew got stuck in shifting winds in the middle of the river, James crossing the line just ahead of Andrew with Mary third, just ahead of Tricia. On handicap, Mary won the race ahead of James, with Tricia third ahead of Andrew. Warren finished fifth ahead of Christine and Kira with Tanja/Cara retiring after problems with their Enterprise.
After a short break for the fleet to gather, the racers started the final race of the day. Tricia, Tanja, Kira and Christine sat out the last race and Ray Swinney joined the racers in LN 114. Mary made a good start and led the sailors up to the first buoy with James and Andrew battling for second. The wind had shifted slightly for the final race requiring the sailors to sail higher up the river before cutting across the dog leg to the E buoy. Andrew passed Mary and James to take the lead pulling out a healthy lead and winning by the finish. James finished second, but only 45 seconds ahead of Mary so finished third on handicap. Warren finished fourth with Ray retiring.
The sailors go into the final round of the series with Andrew Boxer on the same points as Mary Webb, but leading on virtue of a better discard profile. James Long is third 10.5 points behind. Gary Adshead and Jerome Dreux are tied for fourth and either of these two can overhaul the leaders and win the series if they score well in the last round and Andrew and Mary do not due to their discard profiles.