34th Bloody Mary at Queen Mary Sailing Club
by Heather Davies 10 Jan 2007 09:46 GMT
6 January 2007
Grey, misty, drizzle and only a hint of some wind – that’s what greeted the competitors and spectators at Queen Mary for the annual Bloody Mary Pursuit, but 196 boats and crew raced representing 80 clubs and 50 classes, from as far afield as Hollingsworth Lake (Yorkshire) and Barbados! With light winds, loads of rain and a forecast for even less wind towards the finish, the day could favour the slower boats.
The cannon signalled the first start at 12 noon for the 13 Toppers, with 43749 Sam Knight from Sutton Bingham SC making an early break, followed by 40517 Dan Druce from Hawley Lake STC.
The 2.4m sailed by Val Milward started 3 minutes after the Toppers, making good progress to take the lead at the second mark.
In the final 45 minutes, Chris Brown in his Solo took the lead from Milward, with Graham Camm and Zoe Ballantyne from Burghfield SC in their National 12 closing fast, followed by Vanda Young in the Solo. With good boat speed the National 12 of Camm and Ballantyne took the lead from Brown which they held to win the race, followed by Caroline Martin in National 12 3455, and Brown won the battle of the Solos leaving Vanda Young in fourth place. With the wind dying towards the end of the race, the asymmetrics lost out.
Lets hope for wind and no rain next year!
Overall Results:
Winner and fleet prize, Nat 12 3492, Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne (Burghfield SC)
2nd and Lady Helm, Nat 12 3455, Caroline Martin & Andy Douglas (Burghfield SC)
3rd and fleet prize, Solo 4727, Chris Brown (RYA)
4th, Solo 4620, Vanda Young (Littleton SC)
5th and fleet prize, Merlin 3678, Stu Bithell & Rachel Williamson (Hollingsworth Lake SC)
6th, Albacore 6825, Neville Herbert & Steve Penfold (Tamesis SC)
Disability Prize, 2.4m, Val Milward (Rutland SC)
Queen Mary Prize, RS400, Richard Gray and Jon Dyas (Queen Mary SC)
Junior Prize, Laser, Andrew Rawson (Queen Mary SC)
Master prize, Nat 18, Jeremy Vines (Tamesis SC)