GUERNSEY suffered from bank holiday blues yesterday. The mist, drizzle and strong wind affected a string of major outdoor events.
Now the organisers of the Liberation Day celebrations are keeping their fingers crossed that the poor weather will relent tomorrow.
The forecasters are holding out some hope.
The Met Office at the airport is predicting that it will start cloudy with occasional rain or drizzle and fog patches, but with fair periods in the afternoon.
The wind will be south-westerly, strong force five to six, decreasing to moderate force four at times.
Liberation Celebrations working party chairman Deputy Mike O’Hara said that people had turned up to previous events when it had poured down.
‘All we can do is hope the weather is OK and people still come down,’ he said.
There are fewer tented areas than in previous years.
‘Everything is all ready to go, it’s just a matter of lighting the blue touch paper and hoping that the weather is good.’
The weather was too much for extreme sports enthusiasts taking part in LibJam.
Organisers called an early end to proceedings at North Beach when the ramps became too wet.
The planned inter-insular was postponed because Jersey competitors could not get to Guernsey.
And the Lower Pollet alfresco dining experience was a complete washout.
The weather also hit the Guernsey Race Club’s meeting badly.
Instead of the thousands that had been drawn to L’Ancresse in previous years, only hundreds braved the elements for what was described as a superb day’s racing by professional observers.
The bad weather also meant some horses and jockeys were stranded in Jersey.
Club president Ruth Bougourd said the racing had been excellent. ‘It’s a shame with all the hard work the committee has put in to have such appalling weather,’ she said.
Strong winds overnight on Sunday had blown down the marquee, but organisers were able to put it back up in the morning.
‘The crowd is disappointing, but the weather has been against us. To think that for the last month we’ve had brilliant sunshine, the one day we could do with the sun it’s let us down.’
Planning for next year’s event will begin in a month’s time.
Commentator Mark Johnson has called five Epsom Derbies and Grand Nationals, as well as 10 Cheltenham Festivals and races in America.
Yesterday was the first time in his 22-year career that he had not been able to take his crib sheet into the commentary tower because of the wind and drizzle,
He said the weather had hit the day badly.
‘This is the third meeting since it restarted and without a shadow of a doubt I think as a racing professional the quality of racing is appreciably better this year.’
He described the event as a real triumph for Guernsey racing.
‘When I sum up racing in Guernsey to my colleagues, I say it’s the day when Guernsey goes to the races, you get the feeling there’s a real sense of community.’
Article posted on 8th May, 2007 - 12.00am
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