By Alex Willis with photographs courtesy & copyright ©Angela Mamwell
Day 1 – Kielder Dam to Dam
The day dawned bright and clear.
Well, not exactly… a bit wet and misty, but with ripples seen across the water. 9 boats made the intrepid adventure up to Kielder with plenty of time before the first day, 1 pm start for the Kielder water Dam to Dam. A few sailors had been on site for a few days prior to the event starting, getting some very early practice in! Or just observing the wild Ospreys visible on their nesting posts and hunting fish for their dinner.
With all boats rigged and ready, the briefing was held and competitors informed of the course up to the top dam and back.
The RO did a fantastic job setting a windward mark in very shifty, light wind and, after a short postponement, all boats were released from the start line! Rob and Ali (1363) and Viola and Mike (1314) had a great start at the pin end of the line, getting into pressure first with Rob and Ali reaching the windward mark 1st, Viola and Mike 2nd with Alan and Alastair (1367) 3rd.
The short run down to the mark by the East dam was a bit of a procession, setting up for the excitement of the long leg up to the Dam at the top.
The wind allowed for a lot of over and undertaking, with the majority of the fleet heading for the South shore of the channel and running into a rather large hole. This lack of wind gradually expanded across the entire water, with boats trying to maintain what little momentum they had. Alex and Nick (1291) went from a solid last to rounding the first headland 2nd, behind Stewart and Sandy (1366) in a very slight puff of wind which had materialized at just the right moment! (I would say superior strategy, but this is Kielder…).
The slow drag race continued with most boats stationary for a while, then suddenly the wind kicked in so the last section to the top mark became very active, with 4 boats (Alec and Arthur, 1350; Stewart and Sandy, 1366; Nick and Alex, 1291; Viola and Mike, 1314) rounding in line. The wind continued to pick up for the leg back, but everyone still found odd holes in the wind to sit in to kindly allow other competitors past.
Rounding the last headland, a final spinnaker reach to the dam was presented, along with an opportunity for changing places again! Holes and puffs allowed for everyone to close up together again towards the final mark at the East Dam, before the short beat to the finish.
The final beat had a slightly steadier breeze. The finish was exciting with a very biased pin end causing a few more place changes within the closing meters.
After 2 hours 20 minutes of racing, there was only 5 minutes between the first and last boat! Generally a slow race, with Alex and Nick (1291) recorded a maximum speed for the day was 12.4 knots, with an average speed of 3.8 knots.
Overall, a great and varied days sailing, with a rare treat with all boats having been last and first at some point throughout the race.
More to come tomorrow!
