The first day brought 16 boats to the water, but with little or no wind, racing got under way only at 10.38 following a postponement to allow the wind to fill and the direction to stabilize. The first seeding race was nicely won by Dennis Moss who managed to perform a classic text book style leeward end port tack start, a tactic he used with equal success in subsequent races when the opportunity arose. The second seeding race was won quite convincingly by David Munro sailing a Venom. He was virtually able to sail his own race without challenge.

  The wind remained fickle throughout the ensuing Saturday races and at one point had swung 180 degrees to the SW necessitating the virtual reversal of the course. At this stage, races were run with boats crossing the start line with the wind aft of the beam. The unpredictable conditions saw Ken Binks and Dave Andrews (2005 champ.) make some surprise appearances in the B fleet. By the end of day one after 7 races completed and one discard applied, David Munro and Dennis Moss were in 1^st and 2^nd place with equal points. Gordon Beddall was in 3^rd place, and Ken Binks unusually in 5^th place 11 points behind the leaders. 

    Sunday brought further helpings of sunshine and to everyone's delight a 4mph breeze from the NE. The frustration of Saturdays racing soon became a distant memory with the skippers now enjoying challenging windward legs the whole length of the Rick Pond in a strengthening breeze. The comparatively stable conditions allowed Ken Binks, Dennis Moss, David Munro and Dave Andrews to demonstrate consistently good speed on the water and a pattern was soon emerging that would ultimately seal the top positions in the event. The wind continued to increase in strength probably due to the 'land effect' and in race 15 a gust of 18mph was recorded. This happened to coincide with the second of 2007 Veteran Champion, John White’s wins, in which he managed to coax his Argo to outpoint everyone to the first mark leaving the rest of the fleet falling off to leeward. 

My thanks to the Hampton Court race management team, Laurie Bower, Peter Constable, Wendy Moss, Geoff Jones, John Mayhew and Peter Townsend.