Tiger Trophy - 2006 - report by Ant Chapman

This year we were greeted by cold conditions and, for the first time I have been there; no wind! The first start was quite sensibly delayed for lack of wind and most people who were at the briefing were greeted by anecdotes of john by his dad!

When the first race finally got underway in 4 knots max, the fleet was led by the 49ers and 18ft skiffs round the trapezoid course, but however by the windward mark it was clear to see that the slow handicappers were going to be hard to get away from as the two fleets were slowly merging even before the first mark. Sten did well to get away with the first bunch of 49ers with kit and Jamie following closely and with ant and Tim stuck in the pack. By the end of the run the two fleets were almost completely merged, kit sten and Jamie did well to stay well ahead of the bunch but this was a bitter lead as the shorted course flag went up moments after they had crossed the line which allowed ant who had broken free of the bunch to have packed up before the leaders had even finished, the even worse factor being that due to the fading wind the second lap was abandoned anyway, meaning that it was sten first followed closely by kit, and with ant someway behind, Tim and Jamie were unluckily enough to get BFD and Bov did the sensible thing and went to the bar when the wind died!

On the second day it was decided that instead of the traditional pursuit race the two races that were missed on the first day would be raced today in light of the lack of wind.

When the second race got under way there was a ‘nice’ 5 kts across the course but by the time the fleet was half way up to the first mark it had dropped to a mere 2, with ant 1st boat on the water and sten closely behind the wind filled in again allowing 3 49ers to sneak past and sten just to get to the first mark ahead of Ant. Half way along the top reach the wind died and the leading bunch stopped, but with a strange 2kts blowing near the shore it allowed the boats at the windward mark to catch up allowing kit and Jamie into the fight. With the race committee determined to finish the race the fleet drifted on the mirrored lake around the next two marks and with spinnakers being useless most people dropped them and started pumping! Sten held on to be first musto skiff with kit just piping ant to the line but with all of us in shame that we had been beaten across the water by a Merlin rocket!

The wind just picked up in the final race to a pleasant 5/6 kts, Ant let the musto’s round the first mark by a healthy margin with only 3 49ers and an 18ft skiff ahead of him, for the first time kites could be flown properly and by the end of the first lap Ant had held on to the leading bunch despite a tussle with the 18 ft skiff and had pulled away from sten. by the windward mark however sten had court up to within a few hundred yards but despite a 505’s best efforts Ant held on to a good win over sten with kit coming a good 3rd.

Well done to Paul brotherton for winning overall in a 29er and especially well done to kit for bagging the lady tiger prize!

All in all the event was well done apart from the appalling wind at this traditionally high wind event. It was definitely good fun and we hope to get more skiffs next year even if the 700’s don’t want to come play!

Full results at http://www.rutlandsc.co.uk/results/2006/050206_TigerTrophy.htm