VIRB Blog 13th May

VIRBs out at round 1 of the Garmin Summer Series

Looking at the entry list for the Carsington Summer Trophy, it was interesting to see Michael Sims and Tom Gillard both entered.  They spent the winter series doing battle in their Solos, trading places at each event with Michael taking the overall GJW Direct SailJuice Winter Series title.  This time however Tom Gillard was in his Streaker.  What really made this a battle to be seen was the fact that the Streaker and Solo have recently had their handicaps brought together, so the 2 boats are judged to be the same speed.

Knowing that I get a good cockpit angle with my VIRB mounted next to the mast on my Solo I decided to put cameras on both boats in as near the same position as I could.  I wasn't sure of the Streaker layout but achieved a pretty similar angle.

Carsington treated us with exceptional hospitality and very well run racing, together with a stunning backdrop of sunny and stormy skies for the video footage.

Here is Michael in action in the Solo:

And this is the view from the front of Tom's Streaker as overall event winners Kevin Hope and Alex Piggot struggle to hold the spinnaker in their Fireball:

Despite being very closely matched upwind - it was really down to which one won the start - offwind Tom had the edge in the Streaker, the flatter hull being quicker to plane, leaving Michael in his wake.

13/5/2014 09:08