ISO Gala - Brightlingsea SC (23rd & 24th April 2002)
Seven ISOs along with BOSSs, Buzzs, B14s and Contenders, arrived at Brightlingsea Sailing Club on the weekend of the 27th and 28th of April for what promised to be a very windy couple of days.
The Saturday started off with a gusty force 4 to 5. The large amounts of boats were keen to get afloat to what looked to be a hard days sail. Race 1 saw ISO 1013 take the win with some impressive heavy wind sailing, followed by the Keam-Georges. Third position went to fleet newcomers, Matt Levell and Diane Milne in ISO 729. The second race started in slightly heavier wind than the first, all of a sudden a huge squall came through flattening many of the boats on the water.
The guys in the rescue boats certainly had their work cut out (good work guys). Iso 828 sailed by R. Salter and P. Heasman capsized snapping their mast in three places. Levell/Milne went on to win the race followed by RWO then local lads R. Portaway and C. Hunt 970. ISO 815 Mike and Dean Lillywhite received average points after rescuing a very distraught contender sailor who was not only 30 yards away from his boat but was also sinking due to the tear in his drysuit. The wind died down a bit for the last race which saw some great close racing between the fleet. Portway/hunt won the race, with RWO in a consistent second and the Keam-Georges in third, ending the days racing.
Saturday night saw some much deserved lasagne and curry for the sailors accompanied by plenty of beverages. The B14 social secretary must be praised for his organisation of the drinking games which saw ISO sailor Matt Levell keeping up appearances for the ISO fleet to cheers of Sideshow Bob, while downing pints of stella, hurdling and spinning. Sundays racing was cancelled very wisely due to extreme conditions (coming from an already battered crew). I would like to thank Brightlingsea sailing club for a well organised event and look forward to sailing there again.
Full Results Here....
