Packard Ladies 21 Jul 2014
Sunny spells and summery winds for the Club Regatta but all change for the Packard Ladies’ Race on the Sunday afternoon and the ladies set out under lowering skies and the threat of thunder. They were not daunted, however, and set off to rig in weather that would, doubtless, worsen…
Four of the original five entrants made for the start line. Trudi Churchward was unable to race Corindelle after gear failure in the morning race.
- Scarlett Anderson – Coriander
- Sue King – Coryphee
- Gina Porteous – Corella
- Tracey Waples – Corpo Santo
The winds were light and flukey immediately prior to the start so Race Officer Derek Corless added an X to the Town Course of WK to send them in the direction of Buoy No 3 after the start which they did on the south shore.
Running past the race box on the first lap, Coryphee led, closely followed by Corella who caught up and went through but with Corpo coming up fast behind. Coriander was hoisting the spinnaker and lessening the gap caused by hitting a windless patch on the south shore earlier.
Corella rounded Buoy No 11 first but after standing out into the tide, Corpo overtook Coryphee on the return tack. Coryphee was battling it out with Coriander but by now the weather was taking a hand with heavy rain and lightning and the boats disappeared into the rainy murk as they made for Buoy No 3.
Once Corella had crossed the finish line after a welcome shortened course signal, Corpo follwed her home whilst Coryphee retired after being becalmed for some time and then reckoned it was a wrong decision as the wind started to appear!
Furthest away was Scarlett waiting to round Buoy No 3 but reckoned that once round that she would speed home on the tide which she did and so came home in third place.
That race was held in the right spirit of the Packard Ladies who did not have the advantage of modern wet weather gear and no hot shower to welcome them on return!
This was the fourth time we have held the race and easily the most unpleasant conditions. RCYC thanks the owners who allowed the use of the boats, the crews for sticking it out after having sailed the whole weekend and Derek who manned the race box for us. We have kept the memory of Celia and Nina Packard shining brightly for another year…