Enterprise Open at Midland Sailing Club

Close racing during the Midland Enterprise Open © Naomi Guest

David Wheeler and Natallia Orgonova during the Midland Enterprise Open © Naomi Guest

A beautiful, hot, sunny day and gentle breeze welcomed the Enterprise sailors to Midland SC for the second round of the Midland Double Chine series, making it feel more like Bermuda than Birmingham! Four visitors joined five local boats to make a fleet of nine, including four previous winners, for what turned out to be a closely fought and competitive event.

PRO Keith Garrett set challenging courses for the three races using every corner of the reservoir to take advantage of the South Westerly (ish) wind which ranged from F0 to F3 and kept competitors on their toes with various shifts.

Race 1 saw local newcomers Jim and Stanley Sawle lead at the windward mark with a group of chasers rounding together behind. The wind filled in from behind and the chasers led by Jonathan Woodward (South Staffs SC) crewed by Jenny Chen-Androni (Midland SC) overtook the Sawle's leaving them back in 6th. This continued until the final run when the Sawle's found a compressed band of wind closer to the bank than the leaders and came to the leeward mark just behind Tim Brownell and George Panter from Ulley SC who now held the lead and a group of 5 boats just behind them. The dropping wind led Keith to shorten course so it was a final beat with everything to play for as 7 boats were all in the mix. The Sawle's showed great boatspeed to sail away from the chasers and take the win but the following positions were only decided in the last few seconds with local legend Paul Young and Jan Kimber (Midland SC) sneaking through to take 2nd on the line followed by Woodward/Chen-Androni.

The sailors then returned to shore to cool down and enjoy a delicious lunch of home-made food prepared by Kate, Laura, Mabel and their galley crew.

Race 2 saw a tussle up the first beat between Woodward/Chen-Androni and Rich Adams making a welcome return to the Enterprise fleet crewed by daughter Charlotte (Midland SC). This tussle continued down the run and round the leeward mark before judging a windshift on the next beat enabled Woodward/Chen-Androni to extend their lead over the Adamses which they held to the end. 3rd place was taken by Brownell/Panter.

The overall result was wide open going into the final race and it was the Sawle's who gained the initiative, leading round the windward mark from Woodward/Chen Androni and the Adams's. This order stayed steady for the first lap and a half before the Sawle's made a mistake on the short beat and let a decent lead go to allow Woodward/Chen-Androni pass for a lead that they would hold until the end. The short beat was the undoing of the Sawle's on the next lap as they got on the wrong side of a big shift and a 30 seconds lead over the Adams's turned into a narrow one which positioned them for an overtake when the wind died at the leeward mark.

Woodward/Chen-Androni were deserved winners, showing great consistency, boatspeed and tactical acumen. Juniors Charlotte Adams and Stanley Sawle had fantastic first open meetings crewing with their dads, both making the podium. Midland SC would like to say thank you to all the visitors and from the smiles on people's faces it was great to see how much everyone enjoyed their first Enterprise open meeting post Covid. The racing was close, competitive and friendly and all will be welcomed back next year.

Overall Results: