Alton Water 2020 Fox's Chandlery & Anglian Water Frostbite Series - Week 2

Lovely sailing weather for some on Week 2 of the Alton Water 2020 Fox's Chandlery & Anglian Water Frostbite Series © Emer Berry

Week two of this popular nine-week series brought a brighter, mild day with the wind from the same direction as the previous week but with more of it, plus some vicious gusts of 30+ mph.

A similar course was set to the previous week's, with, as always, the option to shorten the number of laps if necessary. With the committee-boat start in the far corner of the reservoir, some of the sailors who were hesitant about whether to race or not given the wind strength, were glad that the race officer needed to move some marks before the start due to the breeze veering substantially to the west, so they still had time to sail out for the slightly delayed start.

There was some spectacular flying downwind, particularly from the RS200s with bows out of the water and some equally dramatic capsizes, with sailors showing off their acrobatic skills. Tim Bees, our series photographer with his 'zoom of doom' was strategically positioned on shore near the gybe mark and was able to capture much of the drama.

Going well... on Week 2 of the Alton Water 2020 Fox's Chandlery & Anglian Water Frostbite Series - photo © Tim Bees

Going... on Week 2 of the Alton Water 2020 Fox's Chandlery & Anglian Water Frostbite Series - photo © Tim Bees

Going, going... on Week 2 of the Alton Water 2020 Fox's Chandlery & Anglian Water Frostbite Series - photo © Tim Bees

Gone... on Week 2 of the Alton Water 2020 Fox's Chandlery & Anglian Water Frostbite Series - photo © Tim Bees

There were several retirements but enough sailors stayed out to do the second race to run the usual five-fleet start sequence. Several competitors were so relieved to cross the finish line that they stopped concentrating and capsized on the reach back in.

There were some different race winners this week, with the Laser Radials and 4.7 performing well in the breeze as well as the RS Aeros in the Medium fleet. It's good to see some mixed-age crews in the series, with some seasoned adults passing on their knowledge and experience to young crews who haven't raced much before.

Tim Bees' photos can be seen here and there are more photos on the Alton Water Sailing facebook page.

Race and series results to date can be found on the Alton Water Frostbite Results facebook page.

Week 2 Results: (top three in each class)