National Hansa Class TT Series at Whitefriars Sailing Club
by David Durston 3 May 2017 16:12 BST
29 April 2017
Hansa TT at Whitefriars © David Durston
On Saturday 29th April Whitefriars Sailing Club hosted a Hansa Open regatta. Typically these events are attended by the regulars who travel around the country to compete for the National Traveller Trophy.
At this year's event we were glad to see the benefits of Whitefriars' Sailability group's activities; teaching people how to sail and compete. There were 5 entries from the host club, and the shock result was achieved by Louise Rounds and Charlie Whelan. This was only Louise's second ever race, and her 3rd season of sailing. Charlie, aged 17, is an experienced sailor, but was there only as a buddy for Louise who is visually impaired. They came second in the 303 2 person class, which was the biggest fleet on the day; fighting off close competition from very experienced sailors. The eventual winners by only 1 point were Peter and Peta Etherton from Frensham Pond.
There were no representatives from Whitefriars in the 303 single person class. This became a head to head battle between Mike Everitt who is also new to the circuit this season, and Margaret Foreman. They finished with exactly the same results after all 4 races. A tie is broken in this situation by giving victory to the person with the highest place in the last race. The race was won by Margaret, also from Frensham Pond. In the 2.3 fleet Lindsay Burns had an easier journey, taking 3 first places to secure her victory.
The Liberty fleet was also closely contested, coming down to the last race. There were 5 boats in this fleet. Going into the last race, Chris Emmet from Rutland Sailing Club had had a 4th place, a 1st place and a 3rd place. Paul Phillips, the European champion, had better results going into the last race; two 2nd places and a 1st. In these competitions a sailor's worst result is discarded, and the remaining 3 results are totalled. The only way that Paul could lose would be if Chris got a 1st place in the last race. David Durston from Whitefriars started in first place ahead of Chris, forcing him to take the right side of the course, while Paul continued with the rest of the fleet to the left. The right was the right choice, and a gust lifted Chris to round the first mark well ahead of the others. He sailed an excellent race, maintaining his lead to the end, and winning 1st place for the event.
Sailability @ Whitefriars meet every Wednesday from April through to October. If you, or somebody you know, would benefit from learning how to sail in the Cotswold, then please contact . Our activities would not be possible without the help of fantastic volunteers. If you can spare any time to help, either on the shore, or in a boat if you already sail or can provide safety cover, then please get in touch.