K1 Midland Area Championship at Bartley Sailing Club
by Hilly King 15 Jun 2021 09:12 BST
13 June 2021
The fleet lined up ahead of the K1 Midland Area Championships © Hilly King
An excellent turnout of K1's competed for the K1 Midland Area Championships which was hosted by Bartley Sailing Club on the 13th June.
The heatwave over the country provided light winds from the South West with occasional stronger breezes which filled in from a variety of directions. The race team did an excellent job to provide three well set courses in these challenging conditions and the launching and recovery chaps were a great bonus.
The first race got off to an even start with most of the fleet choosing the committee boat end of the line to start. Jeff Vander Borght and Hilly King chose the pin end in clear wind and worked clear up the beat. Nick Hoskins however seemed to have his own private wind source and reached the windward mark first only to round it in the wrong direction. By the time he had re rounded the mark the whole fleet had arrived en masse causing big gains and losses. Jeff sailed brilliantly playing the lifts and steadily built a considerable lead, however Geoff King kept close enough to keep Jeff honest. On the final beat Hilly slipped past to take the win closely followed by Jeff and Geoff.
The second race got away in a slightly stronger winds and this time Jason King, Nick and Hilly had a clear lead at the windward mark. They sailed the fleet happily off to the wrong mark which caused a certain amount of confusion. First to react and sail the correct course were Graham Butler and Jeremy Hudson who developed a healthy lead over the rest of the fleet and proceeded to pull away in clear air. Jeff however was on a mission and sailing very fast as he broke free from the chasing pack and started to reduce the deficit on the two leaders. At the finish Graham took the win followed by Jeremy and the fast closing Jeff. We are very fortunate to have Jeff in the K1 fleet not only as our supplier, but also a very keen sailing member of the fleet. He selflessly gave up his last race and therefore chance of victory to help a Bartley member fit out his K1.
The meeting was wide open and numerous winners were still possible. The lighter slightly more fickle winds returned in a changed direction. After a small postponement for the race officer to amend the course the fleet got away and Graham and Hilly pulled clear of the pack. The tussle between these two gave Jeremy and Jason the chance to catch them and slide past developing a comfortable, but fragile lead. Place changes were frequent with everyone taking up the baton to reign in Jason, Jeremy and Hilly. Jason sailed into a hole on the last downwind leg giving Hilly the lead on the last windward leg with Jeremy in close attendance. Hilly led until the very last tack when Jeremy was able to stay in pressure and take the win and with it the Midland Area Championship closely followed by Hilly.
Jeremy was a worthy winner, Hilly second and Jeff third overall.
The K1 fleet also present prizes to age categories. The Masters trophy was also won by Jeremy. The Seniors trophy was won by Jeff and a very popular Alf Hawksworth won the Veterans trophy.