International Class Association

On Saturday 20 July the Eastern Teras were up bright and early for the Alton Water Train and Race. There was enough wind to keep us moving, but not much. Dan and Craig had us going around a windward leeward course in the morning, and we did some starts and mini races in the afternoon with Pros and Sports on the same start line! Dan added to the chaos by attempting, and often succeeding to soak Sydney and Archie mainly, but others as well. He was particularly proud when he hit Sam square in the face with a large bucket full of water. After a long warm day we all went in for a well-deserved ice cream.

Sunday started off misty, but with a little more wind. The Sport fleet was quite large, but there were only 5 Pros. The shifty conditions proved challenging, so much that in one race Bethany was leading by  1 ½ legs, but Sam caught the shift right and overtook her to win the race. Harry gave some great bits of local knowledge, standing in for our other Eastern coach, Hobie, after he had an accident with a saw. Get well soon Hobie.

Our race officer, Gavin, did a great job on the committee boat, with Mark Hainsworth and Mark Smith, and the races ran smoothly with no general recalls, as no one was over! (I thought I was and went back – but then I wasn’t!!!) The racing was very close, so even the slightest mistake cost a large number of places. Overall the weekend was great, and we all had a brilliant time. Thank you to Alton Water for being excellent hosts; the server for delicious food; Dan, Craig and Harry our coaches; and Mark and Margaret for organising the event so well and Pioneer Pump for sponsoring the Eastern Traveller series. (Apologies if I missed someone.)
By Lucy Greenwood
Full results are http://www.altonwater.co.uk/index.php?pid=167&series=338&full_series_fleet=338