Kestrel Eastern Area Championships at Marconi Sailing Club
by Henry Richards 4 Sep 2012 10:17 BST
26-27 August 2012
Eight boats arrived to Marconi Sailing Club to compete in the Eastern Area Championships over the bank holiday weekend.
Race 1 – Race one got underway in medium winds. Henry Richards/Christopher Richards (1563) got to the mark first, closely followed by Paul Jarvey/Dave Hearsum (1574) and Chris Grice/Paul Wilkinson (408). 1563 managed to keep the lead till the end of the first lap when 408 followed by 1574 managed to get past. This led to a battle between Paul/Dave and Chris/Paul, won by Paul/Dave that was trailed by Henry/Christopher. The order stayed this way to the finish, followed by Jeremy/Jane Drummond (1510) in fourth.
Race 2 – In the second race, the leading two boats were the same as the first race. Paul/Dave managed to get the better of Chris/Paul this time round to take the win. Newcomers to the fleet Malcolm Cross/Tony Everitt sailed a very good race to come home third. They were followed by Henry/Christopher who just beat Steve/Lin Worf on the line.
Race 3 – The second day had slightly heavier winds that swung to come directly off the shore. This made it quite shifty and inconsistent. Again Paul/Dave and Chris/Paul managed to get away from the rest of the fleet. Their places swapped over a couple of times with Paul/Dave eventually taking the win. Towards the rest of the fleet, Steve/Lyn were doing well until a capsize at the gybe mark and fought hard but could never really catch the pack. Henry/Christopher took 3rd followed by Mark Batt/Barry Sadler from Harlow Blackwater in fourth.
Race 4 – In the final race and with everything to play for up front, the last race promised to be a spectacle. Paul/Dave got away well, leading at the first mark, followed by Chris/Paul and Henry/Christopher who promptly put up the kite, screamed past the fleet and spectacularly capsized (*much to the amusement of the spectators – Rachel*). Paul/Dave managed to lead for the next 3½ laps only for Chris/Paul to nip past on the beat to the line, winning the race and the event.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 408 | Chris Grice | Paul Wilkinson | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | 1574 | Paul Jarvey | David Hearsum | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 1563 | Henry Richards | Chris Richards | 3 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 10 |
| 4 | 1534 | Malcolm Cross | Tony Everitt | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 12 |
| 5 | 1546 | Mark Batt | Barry Sadler | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 13 |
| 6 | 1545 | Steve Worf | Lin Worf | 6 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 16 |
| 7 | 1510 | Jeremy Drummond | Jane Drummond | 4 | 7 | 7 | ret | 18 |
| 8 | 1573 | Rod Brown-lee | Jenny Brown-lee | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 20 |