GP14 Midland Bell Circuit at Manor Park Sailing Club

GP14 Midland Bell Circuit at Manor Park © Lee Bratley

GP14 Midland Bell Circuit at Manor Park © Lee Bratley

GP14 Midland Bell Circuit at Manor Park © Lee Bratley

October saw the final event of the GP14 Midland Bell traveller series, seven months after the opening event at Chasewater. A select group made the journey to Kings Bromley just north of Lichfield, the forecast looking as though it was going to be a windy one.

Race Officer Dave Norris and his team made their way out to the decent expanse of sailing water having reminded the competing helms that they need to cross the River Trent to get to the racetrack. On the whole, he set fantastic courses for spinnaker boats, true beats which made the crews work for their money, followed by excellent angled reaches that rewarded those who hunted the gusts that were skimming across the water, mixed in with testing gybes that pushed the boat handling skills to the limit; past it for some!

Race 1 was led initially by Megan Hicklin & Hayley Ramadhar, whose lack of body weight was perfect for the downwind legs, the gusts not strong enough to cause any issues...yet. They led for the first two laps; however a lack of concentration, heading for the wrong leeward mark, allowed Matt Thursfield & Sam Blocksidge to sail over and away. The girls then decided to give the chasing pack a boost, putting it in on one of those gybes. Credit to them though, having dropped to fourth they brushed themselves down, worked hard and squeezed past Will Hawkins & Sam Thompson on the final beat to regain second place, their rightful position as far as they were concerned.

Race 2 & 3 saw Matt & Sam dominate the race track, Pete Jacques & Pete Tait the main challengers after using the first race as their warm up. The results showed that the wind must have increased further as Meg & Hayley put it in proper, this time to the extent that they were unable finish the second race. It's quite strange to think that in the lead boat, the helm weighs more than those two combined!

So going into the final start, rumour had gone around that the Larks just up the road had abandoned due to the strong wind, not the news the lightweights wanted to hear knowing they were in a battle for second overall. Pete & Pete got the better of whole fleet in this final race; the OOD having set a very weird course where getting the beats bang on was key – the two Petes just getting it right on the critical leg upto buoy 8. Third in this race were lead home boat overall, John Salomonson & Anna Wakeling.

So it was Matt & Sam's event, Pete & Pete second, third were Will Hawkins & Sam Thompson telling you all you needed to know about the gusts that came through and the final outcome of Megan & Hayley's day!

Thanks to Manor Park for their hosting of a great day's sailing, the club coming together both on and off the water to make it a real success. There will be a review of the impact the event had on the GP Midland Bell in due course.

Overall Results: