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On the morning of Saturday 15th May the dinghy racers of Salcombe Yacht Club were considering alternative arrangements to sailing, be it cutting the lawn or taking the rubbish to the dump, being aware that the weather forecast was potentially beyond the COVID protocols, however upon their arrival at the Batson boat park, Race Officer Graham Cranford Smith declared following consultation with the Wind Guru live data stream that the windspeed on the Watch House anemometer was truly 14 knots, so racing for the final race of the SYC Spring Series would be go ahead.
Competitors were faced with a low neap tide with a moderate breeze blowing out of the South, South West and all directions between. The Race Officer mitigated any risk by keeping the fleet in the harbour, displaying 131313 on the Watch House.
In usual fashion for the first May Bank Holiday Weekend, the National 12 fleet descended on Salcombe for 3 days of sunshine, ice cream and sailing.
A few regulars from the fleet were absent so ten N12s, and twenty sailors, took to the water.
Race 1 - Saturday
Despite promises of it always being sunny in Salcombe, there was a burst of torrential rain just as the fleet were getting ready at Baston Slipway. As the first boats launched, the rain stopped, but the wind had not arrived. The fleet slowly crawled out into the estuary, with most opting to sail for the beach rather than struggle against the tide as the postponement flag was already displayed.