The 2023 Marconi Easter Egg Series took place in warm sunshine and gentle, if fickle, breezes on Easter Sunday. A welcome respite after a wet and windy March! Two pursuit races were held – starting from the hard with a mix of monohulls and cats chasing each other round the course.
The morning race was won very convincingly by Rear Commodore Nigel in a Dart 15 who picked a stellar race line against the tide to the second mark, leaving the rest of the fleet battling unhelpful windshifts to get round it, some distance behind. Dave and Clare in the Lark were also flying until they clipped mark 3 which allowed David and John Ball to sneak second place in their Dart 15. For race two, the wind had filled in a bit more consistently. The Lark held a good lead with David and John chasing hard, followed by Nigel – with another melee at mark two for the rest of the fleet. The wind increased a little more which allowed Jason Clarke and Jenny Ball on the Dart 18 to hit their stride and they just managed to overhaul the Lark and David and John with a minute or so to go to take the win.
Combining both races – three boats were on equal points but on count back, Dave and Clare in the Lark came fourth, Nigel in the Dart 15 came third, Jason and Jenny in the Dart 18 came second. However, there was a clear winner with two seconds – David and John Ball in the Dart 15. Easter Eggs all round to the winners and thanks to Race Officers, John and Caroline and to all the safety boat volunteers.
