The Carling Club Championship saw another weekend of very light wind and strong tides making the sailing exceptionally challenging, in particular for the Optimists with the short waterline and small sails. Although the courses were set close to shore in Havelet Bay, the ability to master the tides proved decisive.

On Saturday the racing took place in the afternoon with the wind dropping from light to almost non-existent. The sailors came off to an even start but sneaking close to shore more or less touching the bathing pools to avoid the tides, Development Squad sailor Sam Crosby quickly established a clear lead. However, with the wind continuing to drop off and with dinghies just drifting with the tide, the race had to be abandoned.

“There was a decent breeze in the beginning but then it dropped off completely”, Sam said. “It was the right call to abandon the race, it’s not fair to sail in conditions like that.”

Hoping the wind would fill in again, the sailors stayed on the water but it was not to be. The morning’s breeze that saw the Melgeses and RS Elites complete three races simply did not show again and the Optimists were eventually towed back to the slipway without having finished a single race.

Sunday morning offered slightly more wind and with the sailors taking to the waters in good spirits, the racing quickly came underway. Once again, Sam showed he mastered the tides finding his way around the course efficiently using and avoiding the currents. Having established a clear lead, Sam controlled the fleet around the triangle sausage course to take the bullet ahead of Tom Lees in second and Jonty Inderwick in third.

“I managed to create a gap to the rest of the fleet and with the tides restricting the options it was fairly easy to stay ahead,” says Sam who proved experience pays off when it becomes tactically difficult.

Behind the first three, Philip and Alex Sillars pulled together one of their best performances of the season finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

As the race was finished, the wind once again disappeared and after some time of waiting on the water the sailors had to return to shore. With only the one race completed, Sam was crowned Optimist Club Champion receiving the trophy from Commodore Gordon Wilson with Tom taking silver and Jonty claiming the bronze.

The Optimist sailors will now have two weeks of training before it is time for the Volvo Musto Optimist British and Open Championship in Weymouth in the last week of July. In Weymouth, an eleven-strong Guernsey team will fly the flag with four sailors in the main and seven in the regatta fleets.  

Photo: The podium finishers in the Optimist class of the Carling Club Championship, from the left  Tom Lees (second), Sam Crosby (first) and Jonty Inderwick (third)