Lightning Open at Wigan Sailing Club

A bright sunny day greeted the assembled Lightnings for their Open at Wigan SC on Sunday 27th July.

A shifty Force 2 Westerly wind, gusting up to Force 3, ensured the OOD had to work hard in setting courses that made full use of the water available and gave the competitors plenty of opportunities to trade places!

Race 1 got of to a clean start, with Don Appleton leading the way up the right hand side of the course. However, Ian Ranson made best use of the shifty conditions to reach the windward mark first a good 10 boat lengths ahead of the rest of the fleet, but then chose to throw it away on the following leg by heading for the wrong mark. Mike Lockyer made full use of the mistake to move up two places, and into the lead position. A battle ensued over the next 2 laps with Ranson and Lockyer swapping places several times in the variable conditions. Ranson had the upper hand on the final beat by half a boat length, but on the final reach into the finish went too low and allowing Lockyer to make straight for the line and snatch first place.

A shorter course was set for the second race, but a massive windshift 2 minutes before the start gave the OOD some grief, the line was now very port biased, which just happened to be the Committee Boat end. With a fetch to the windward mark in prospect most boats chose to start here. Ranson got the best start, closely followed by Appleton and Lockyer. Ranson was first to the windward mark and the rest of the fleet played follow my leader for the next 2 laps. At times the wind filled in to enable some planing reaches, which Ranson played well to extend his lead. But on the final lap that fickle wind dropped dramatically and shifted back to its original direction making the final beat a true beat once again. Being the lighter helm Lockyer made up considerable ground on Ranson, who decided to cover. Nonetheless Ranson gambled on the left hand side as being favoured, but a lucky lift took Lockyer straight up the right hand side to the windward mark, coming out 2 boat lengths ahead. With the short reach into the finish line again Lockyer took first place, followed by Ranson, with Appleton trailing to third place.

By the start of the third race the wind had increased by about 5 knots with many gusts now reaching a Force 4. With Lockyer having already won the Open Ranson was determined to ensure that there was no clean sweep, a feat achieved on the first leg. With the increased wind Ranson was unassailable and led the whole fleet from start to finish to win comfortably by well over 100 yards.

Overall Results: