Buzz Inland Championships at Draycote Water Sailing Club
by Roger Eyre 4 Oct 2011 21:26 BST
1-2 October 2011
Buzz Inland Championships winners © Roger Eyre
It was great to see some new faces coming along to pit themselves against the stalwart campaigners. Matt & Graziano Buzz 748, Julian & Jeremy Buzz 1201, Tony & Olivia Buzz 568 and Richard Botting Buzz 512 from Draycote Water SC with guesting crew Jess Staples (delivered by Mum & Dad).
Race 1 – Four boats led the fleet, but in constantly changing positions due to fluky winds – particularly around the windward mark which prompted several protest calls. 919 came out victorious starting the weekend with a good solid win.
Race 2 was very close right to the end between 919 & 401 – decided on the last gybe with 401 coming out on top. 987 and 748 had a good battle too with 512 not far behind.
Race 3 was won by 401 who had made a port flyer at the start. 748 had a great race helped by 987 sailing into an impossible ‘hole’ allowing 919 to pull back a place. Meanwhile another battle was going on between 512, 1201 and 568 with 512.
Race 4 – 919 had another great race with 748 in close contention. 401 and 987 were in close contention with 987 winning the battle finishing 3rd. The following fleet maintained the same order but not without a healthy tussle!
Saturday evening saw the fleet gathered for a great social in the Dun Cow in Dunchurch with much debate over the day’s racing and promises of advice to newcomers on boat tweaks the next morning.
Race 5 – 919, 748, 987 and 401 were all close at the start but after a couple of ‘incidents’ on the windward leg, 401 and 512 having done their turns, recovered. 401 sailed the opposite windward leg to the rest of the fleet and pulled back to 2nd place behind 919, beating 748 by a hare’s whisker on the final gybe to the finish line. 568 achieved their best performance of the weekend in front of 1201.
Race 6 - was pretty tense at both ends of the fleet with places to win or lose. 401 took an early lead and managed to stay ahead for the rest of the race, aided by 919 getting a twist in their spinnaker after rounding the penultimate windward mark. This allowed 748 to move into 2nd place which they held to the finish. Meanwhile 987 has all sorts of problems and dropped back to battle it out with 512. An unfortunate upwind capsize put 512 behind and despite 987 thinking they had finished after lap 3, a quick recovery allowed them to still finish 4th, just in front of 512.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 401 | Stuart Bailey | Zoe Bailey | Wilsonian | 7 |
| 2 | 919 | Ian Staples | Bridgette Staples | Bartley | 8 |
| 3 | 748 | Matt Butler | Graziano Spano | Stewartsby | 13 |