Revenge of the Commodore

NISOMER

Challenge 2

Race three added two more people to the those racing which was a treat as they were guests who came to sample the racing, although I did not get to speak to them after the sailing I am told they had a great afternoon. With one Wayfarer off the water due to damage the decision was made to launch three Flying Fifteens. The Commodore took one f15 along with two Nisomar staff as crew to make a full Nisomar team. Hemimeh came off the single handed Taz and took another Flying Fifteen with two crew. Sakina was too shattered after the first race to go alone again so she joined Munene in the “Deep Turtle” and Frances Oyo took “Pippen” and a guest to make up a field of five boats again. Once more the start was messed-up so the Flying fifteens held back to give the two wayfarers a good start. We pulled the F15s together at the start and all three F15s crossed the line within two or three boat lengths of each other.

The first shock was looking ahead “Pippen” was blazing away from “Deep Turtle”! Frances Oyo who I had graded as poor following the Tudor/Tamarind race was simply flying and leaving Munene far behind. This was a full reversal from the previous week.

The F15 is a faster boat than the Wayfarer but the ten minutes was a big gap to run down. By the first mark “Pippen” was already ahead of “Deep Turtle” by 10-15 boat lengths and both Wayfarers had a good 60-75 boat length advantage over the F15s. The F15s rounded the first mark with the Vice Commodore leading the chasing pack, the Commodore close behind him and Hemimeh another 30yds behind the Commodore. As the race unwound the Vice Commodore kept increasing the gap and looking like it may be a runaway win over the Commodore. The Wayfarers were both already passed but “Pippen” was hanging onto the back of the Commodore like a tow line. In short he was sailing fantastically.

At the end of the first lap the Vice Commodore was ahead by more than 20 boat lengths and after passing club he handed the helm to the young trainee Huzeifa and stepped forward to the crew slot with Huzeifas Dad Mustafa. The Commodore is a great sailor and takes no prisoners and as soon as he realized there was a novice at the helm he pinned his ears back and began the chase. As each mark (turn) came and went he ate more and more of the gap to the lead. At the final Peleleza mark he turned inside the Vice Commodore and held a small lead. With Huzeifa at the helm the Vice Commodore tried to pull a few fast moves to throw the leading boat off his line but the Commodore held fast and crossed the finish line in first place making the revenge of the Commodore complete.

Frances Oyo in his Wayfarer battled to the end and was truly outstanding as he came in third

Thirty minutes of clearing boats and tidying the water and it was everybody to the table for cake and tea on the Quarter deck and giving each other a hard time for their mistakes.