Graduate Open at Chipstead Sailing Club

Chipstead Graduate Open © Alistair Roaf

Chipstead Graduate Open © Alistair Roaf

On Sunday 13th May, 19 Graduates gathered at Chipstead for their annual open meeting. The wind was a light north-westerly with some large shifts and holes.

For race one, Race Officer, Mick Kostiw, set a start line two thirds down the lake with a decent beat to windward. One minute before the start, the wind died at the right hand side of the line. Those at the pin end had some pressure but it was visitors Adam Froggart and Isabelle Tate who found the gust and punched clear followed by National Champion, John Clementson with Melanie Titmus as crew.

Adam held his lead for the next two marks. Unfortunately, at the bottom of the lake there was a hole which held the leaders and allowed the chasing pack to catch-up. John Clementson used his local knowledge to get first round the leeward mark. They were closely chased by Bob and Maggie Murrell who passed them on the beat. Bob and John exchanged positions a few more times before John closely claimed the first for race one. Bob and Maggie were second and Allen Warren with crew Debbie Saunders were third. For the rest of the fleet it was snakes and ladders with positions changing throughout the close fleet.

After lunch, it was two races back to back.

The start of race two was led by John and Melanie. They used the clear air to get well ahead of the back. The main event for the race was the run/reach through the narrows where the lead boats, apart from John and Melanie, sailed into a big hole which allowed to the back of the fleet to sail over them with a wind that filled in from astern. Eventually, everyone got moving but it took a while for the better sailors to work their way through the fleet. Towards the end of the race the wind filled in allowing some faster racing with both crews sitting on the windward deck. The race was won by John and Melanie with Ric Lewis and John Higham second, closely followed by Bob and Maggie.

Race three had the wind flicking from north to west and back again. The windward mark was changed and a port bias line was set. Again, John and Melanie were able to punch through and get clear in their Dinghy Show winning boat. They sailed their own race and went on to their third win. The exciting action was in the main fleet where positions changed with every gust. Second were Alan and Debbie, third were Bob and Maggie.

Chipstead Graduate Open - photo © Alistair Roaf

Congratulations to John and Melanie who were overall winners.

Overall Results: