It was a gloomy and cold start to the 2012 Sunrise Series. Only three crews were April Foolish enough to brave the frosty conditions, drift off the hard and slowly inch their way up Tollesbury creek in very light airs. The support boat crew were either snuggled up in bed or unexpectedly working, so Rik and John Bellman did OOD duty from alongside the Yellow Peril, then followed Simon Young (Laser) and Will Porter (Topper) away after the starting gun. It was probably the only time Rik has ever been right on the line at the start! The low tide (4.1 m) caught Rik and John out and by the time they had the board up out of the mud and were back on course, Simon Young was well on his way up the beat to No 2 with Will close behind. The second mark was all but invisible in the glare from the rising sun and the GP14 took the lead as Simon lost his way, Positions were held until half-way up the beat to Joyce’s Head, when Simon took the lead again. Will caught up as Rik and John grounded once again, though they were soon round the No 4 and off on the run with the spinnaker catching the light breeze. At the line it was Simon, Rik and John, then Will. Timekeeping was fairly hit-and-miss due to the absence of an independent hand on the stopwatch, but accurate enough to reverse second and third places on handicap.

Boats were cleaned down and put away by 9:30 with the crews set to make the most of the rest of the day. The next early start is in two weeks time, why not set your alarm and join us? At least starts will be after sunrise!

Rik Alewijnse 1 April 2012