ISO Gala - King George SC (12th & 13th April 2003)

Ten ISOs enjoyed very varied conditions and close racing over the two day event.

Saturday provided a very light, fickle wind, with great variations in both speed and direction. With the left offering big gains, each race started with the pin end very congested.

Ross Ashton & Chris Burch (822) took race 1 from Jonathan Wells & Bugsy (1176), with Ian & Katie Keam-George (1188) 3rd. ISO newcomers and King George based Tony Cooper, partnered by Dave Appleton (905) were 4th.

Team RWO (1013) sailed by Pete Lindley and yet another crew for this season, Simon Hadley, bounced back from 5th in the previous race, to win the 2nd, with Wells and Bugsy in 2nd. 3rd place went to Ashton & Burch, who won the final race of the day, just ahead of Team RWO. Local boys Cooper & Appleton finished 3rd.

Saturday night, saw Ashton & Burch leading on the water and into the Navigation Inn Restaurant just down the road.

Day 2 brought the breeze everyone wished for after the frustrations of Saturday. 1188, Ian & Katie Keam-George, excelled in the gusty conditions, making a perfect pin end start for the fourth race of the weekend. They worked the left of the first beat well, and rounded the top mark first to open up and maintain a huge margin to the finish, leaving 2nd and 3rd places to RWO and 760 (Steve Bell & Declan O'Keeffee) respectively.

The wind built for race 5 and many in the fleet capsized. RWO took the points lead with a win over Ashton \ Burch after their capsize, leaving 3rd to Ian & Katie Keam-George.

One point separated RWO and Ashton \ Burch going into the last race, but once again Ian & Katie showed the rest of the fleet how to master a breeze and won yet again by a comfortable margin. Ashton \ Burch pushed RWO hard, almost hitting their transom at the first top mark when they both hit a big windshift. This proved the turning point and despite a capsize on the last beat, RWO took 2nd place in the final race, to win the event by 2 points over Ross Ashton and Chris Burch who posted a 3rd in the same race. A creditable late charge in the event, gave Ian & Katie Keam-George 3rd place overall.

 

Full Results Here....