Wash Rivers / Edger
Bain
Ouse A 1st Hykeham 2nd
Individual Winner: Ian Bradley
Full report to follow
Results
National
12 Open Meeting
7
boats arrived at Welland for the third round of the Midland
Area's 'Rivers and Ponds Series' to glorious sunshine and a
gusty breeze; the day saw very close racing, lots of incidents
and capsizes, and a perfect/unbiased beating start line.
Even before racing, the competitors for Welland's first N12
Open were welcomed with bacon butties and tea/coffee, and lunch
was included in the £10 entry- what excellent value!
Race 1 - With such a narrow river to manoeuvre in, the fleet
were line shy for the first race, but a very close tacking battle
ensued with only inches separating the first four boats. Paul
Turner got to the windward mark 4 ahead of Gerald Copsey but
was caught and overtook on the downwind leg to mark 1 and Gerald
rounded the windward mark again well ahead after the second
beat. Gerald looked suitably miffed as Martin Clarke and Paul
Turner planed up to his transom as he sat in a hole in the wind
on the reach back to mark 3 and then Andy Prior also caught
up on the dead run after mark 3 so that there were four boats
in very close company arriving at the leeward mark below the
clubhouse with Gerald Copsey just in the lead. However, Martin
Clarke broached on a gybe (in front of the clubhouse) and capsized
sideways into Paul Turner pinning him next to the bank allowing
Andy Prior to gain a few yards on Paul Turner rounding mark
1 just behind his transom. Paul needed one final tack to cross
the line but Andy hung on to the starboard tack and crossed
the line just as the boat grounded to beat Paul by inches. Other
incidents included Dave Borrett undertaking a full buoyancy
test and John Nixon's boat sustaining damage after running into
the bank, sadly ending his day's racing.
Race 2 - The Race Officer, Vanessa Cook, laid a much longer
course up river to mark 5 to make use of the freshening wind
and add additional reaching; Paul Turner arrived at the windward
mark first after a long battle with Gerald Copsey who then got
past him on the way to the leeward mark. Beating back up past
the clubhouse a load bang announced the loss of Paul's control
lines; to add insult Martin Clarke heading down river hadn't
seen Paul on starboard and his boom caught him squarely across
the back nearly knocking him out of the boat. Running repairs
meant that Paul caught Gerald so they continued their tacking
duel back up to mark 3 with both leading at various times; the
fleet headed by Brian Cobb were slowly catching the two protagonists.
Gerald hadn't realised that they had reached the windward mark
assuming that Paul's efforts to luff him above the buoy in front
were tactical! A sudden wind shift meant that Gerald rounded
the mark and Paul had to put in another tack, sealing the win
for Gerald and son Nick.
Race 3 - Gerald Copsey having been in a 24 hour race the previous
day and having only had 3 hours sleep decided to opt out of
the last race, despite having had a snooze at lunchtime. Martin
Clarke's battle plan to finally sink or maim Paul Turner failed
as a broken rudder downhaul and resulting capsize (in front
of the clubhouse again) prompted his retirement before the start.
The battle at the front of the fleet from the start was between
Paul Turner and Andy Prior; only after a frantic tacking match
did Paul Turner break free to get to the windward mark first.
Andy Prior nearly lost it on the gybe at mark 5, but gradually
caught Paul Turner on the long off wind race back to the clubhouse
and was within feet at the leeward mark. The battle for third
and fourth places between Dave Borrett and Brian Bobb was resolved
by BC's upwind power. A weary beat back up to mark 3, and run
back saw Paul Turner keeping ahead of Andy Prior to win the
last race.
The final result was Gerald Copsey winning his first ever Open
Meeting (allegedly), with Paul Turner second and Andy Prior
third.
All agreed it was a most successful and enjoyable day's sailing,
and it's hoped that this will continue to be a regular event
on the N12 calendar.
1st Gerald Copsey & Nick Copsey 3411 St Edmundsbury
SC
2nd Paul Turner & Christine Marshall 3157 Trent Valley SC
3rd Andy Prior & Tom Bell 3465 Welland Yacht Club
4th Brian Cobb & Roz Nichols 3271 Hykeham SC
5th D Borrett & L Borrett 3102 Trent Valley SC
6th Martin & Matt Clarke 3458 Hykeham SC
7th John Nixon & S Howe 3469
Lowland Regatta
Robin Makes a Clean Sweep
With
a number of Welland Yacht clubs regular winners away, this year's
Lowland Regatta became a very open event. Although a club trophy
event, this is also one of the more light hearted regattas,
with competitors racing in fancy dress and undertaking a number
of fun challenges during the day's races.
The first race of the day is the warm up event and is a straight
forward race, Martin Cook in his Solo led the way across the
start line, on the final stretch of the first leg Robin Wilson
in his Europe and Adam Wilson in his OK were neck and neck,
each trying to out manoeuvre each other to be first around the
mark for the start of the second leg.
By the finish of the race Robin Wilson had edge in front, but
an excellent sail by Tim and Nicky Wilson in their Enterprise
meant they pipped Adam Wilson to 2nd spot by just 2 seconds.
The second race of the day is the novelty event with the competitors
undertaking challenges as they go around the course. This year's
race included collecting plants from along the bank and balloons
floating in the water, considerably harder than it sounds. Robin
Wilson won his second race of the day, with Adam Wilson managing
to stave off the challenge of the Enterprise team to finish
second. A quick change in the weather conditions with a sudden
increase in the wind speed caught a number of the racers out,
with two crews taking a swim.
The Weather settled for the third race which gives the competitors
the opportunity to demonstrate some of their boat handling skills.
This race included figure of eight sailing and by the end of
the second leg, the boats of Robin Wilson, Adam Wilson and the
Enterprise pair of Tim and Nicky were all close together. However,
the twist in this race was that as they crossed the original
start line, they then need to sail their boats backwards to
cross the finish line. This resulted in race positions changing
quickly but Robin Wilson showed he had the measure of this skill
and Won his 3rd race of the day and claiming overall first place.
The Enterprise team notched up another second place securing
overall 2nd place, with Adam Wilson in 3rd.
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Photos
