What's the answer to "life, the universe and everything?" 42!

Which just happens to be the same number of National 12s that turned up for the third event in the 2004 GILL series at Royal Harwich on the second May bank holiday.

 The weather defied all forecasts and the race team of John Selby & Margaret Mackley made good use of the conditions to provide excellent racing for the five GILL series races and also the Burton Salver which was run on the Sunday afternoon.

The first race started on a rising tide. Frances Gifford crewed by Sophie Mackley in Zippy were hot off the starting blocks and took a clear early lead but by the start of lap two the tide was stronger. Tom Stewart & Liz Ross in Slither stayed out of the tide and took the lead by the second windward mark. Slither went on to win by a clear margin. Malcolm Mackley, another local sailor, also put his local knowledge of the tides to pull through to second.

Evening entertainment was organised by Harwich club rep, Helen Hunt and teams for the excellent pub quiz were almost as competitive as on the water.

 The fleet rose early for race two on the Sunday in order to catch high water only to be greeted by a flat calm. As the fleet approached the starting area a sunny force 3 emerged - fantastic! A short start line on the edge of the channel meant that having a good start was critical. Slither was hot off the blocks closely following the father-son team of Paul & Guy Pelling. With three beats against the tide in shifty conditions, places changed frequently on each windward leg. Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne in "Thanks for all the Fish" sneaked past team Pelling on the second beat, sailing more in the tide but in stronger breeze, to take the lead. On the final beat Steve Sallis & Jenny James sailing Dilbert also found the groove to sail into second place.

The wind increased to around 10 knots for the third race. The fleet had a difference of opinion on tactics for the beat some going for less tide others more wind. The lighter tide proved more important, which favoured Slither and Thanks for all the Fish who rounded the windward mark within feet of each other. The start of the second beat was the critical moment for the leaders, but Slither stayed a little more in the tide allowing Thanks for all the Fish to sneak through into first, which they held to the finish.

 The Burton Salver is a long river race where the competitors sail towards the mouth of the river Orwell for about 1 hour until the rescue boat drops a buoy, which everyone then rounds and heads back to the club finish line. This year the fleet stayed very close on the run down, apart from Jon Brown and Rachel Williams who shot into a 300m lead. Brown and Williams looked unbeatable until some confusion about the position of the leeward mark and which way to round it ate up their lead. The long beat back proved tricky as the wind around Pin Mill became fickle. Nigel Playford sailing with nephew Henry put their local knowledge to good use and shot through to take the lead, which they held to the finish. 2nd, 3rd & 4th places all finished within seconds of each other.

The conditions on the Monday morning looked good only for sun bathing, but by 10:30am a sea breeze appeared and rapidly filled the estuary and the competitors set off for another day of lovely sunny force 3. The race team had a trying time starting the first race as the wind repeatedly shifted by about 60 degrees approximately one minute before each attempted start. On the fourth attempt at a start the fleet finally got off for race 4, Thanks for all the Fish picked up a nice port lift on the approach to the windward mark to take the lead, closely followed by Bruce & Clare Johnson in "Fatal Abstraction" and Dave Wade & Jo Hunt in "Not another Aardvark". Bruce and David both picked up a gust coming out of Pin Mill on the reach and overtook Thanks for all the Fish. Again the tide and shifts on the second beat allowed much place changing and Thanks for all the Fish pulled ahead of Not another Aardvark by a few feet at the windward mark. This time Thanks for all the Fish went higher on the reach and held their position to the finish.

  The wind increased more for the final race. The wind shifted round so the fleet could only cross the line on port, so the start proved critical. John & Katy Meadowcroft took the pin end and looked in a strong position. Thanks for all the Fish also had a good start in the middle of the line, but it was Jon & Charlotte Ibbotson sailing Purple Turtle who got to the windward mark first, having started nearer the committee boat end and used the lee-bow effect of the tide to sail a perfect fetch to the mark. Fatal Abstraction and Steve Sallis sailing with Jenny James in "Dilbert" put a strong attack on the run but Purple Turtle kept the lead to the finish.

Overall results

1st Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne N3469 Thanks for all the fish
2nd Tom Stewart & Liz Ross N3476 Slither
3rd Steve Sallis & Jenny James N3436 Dilbert
4th Frances Gifford & Sophie Mackley N3431 Zippy
5th Jon & Charlotte Ibbotson N3445 Purple Turtle

Admiral's Cup

1st John & Alison Cheetham N3209 Rebel