Border Counties Midweek Sailing Series at Winsford Flash Sailing Club
by Dave Thomas 24 Apr 06:41 BST
16 April 2024
The Border Counties Midweek Sailing 2024 series hit a bump at the first event which should have been held at Nantwich Sailing Club but unfortunately the strong breeze that had hit so many events the previous weekend continued with winds at 45mph forecast so the hard decision was made to cancel.
With just one week's notice the team at Winsford Flash put on an extra event for us enabling us to keep the same number of events in the series, so a big thank you to them and to the sailors who still managed to sail at short notice.
So at the first event of the series at Winsford Flash Sailing Club we had 13 boats (15 sailors) turn up, despite the not too healthy looking forecast, with a mix of boats including Streakers, Supernovas, Comets, RS Aero, Solos and a pair of Miracles.
The wind was coming straight down the lake and race officer Jon Close saw a clean start from everyone to give us a good beat to the first mark. With Kieran Lewis and Pete Coop leading the way, the race eventually was taken by Kieran in his RS Aero followed by Pete in his new Streaker and newcomer Olli Saunders in a Solo equal second. The first double handers were Simon & Julie Dolman in their Miracle.
After a break for lunch racing continued with two back-to-back races and a new course. The wind was supposed to be calming down, but instead it got windier by race 3 there were quite a few capsizes and retirements leaving just 7 boats to pick up the points.
After race 2 Kieran was still leading with another 1st, Pete 2nd and Dave Turtle coming in 3rd in his Comet and Simon & Julie Dolman first double handed in their Miracle.
Race 3 saw the two boats of Kieran and Pete battling for the lead with Kieran taking the lead and 1st place, Pete 2nd and Olli 3rd, first Double handers were Dave Thomas & Shan Stapley in their Miracle.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Class | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | RS AERO 5 | 3049 | Kieran Lewis | | Shotwick | ‑1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2nd | STREAKER | 2177 | Pete Coop | | Winsford Flash | ‑2.5 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 3rd | SOLO | 5497 | Olli Saunders | | Shustoke | 2.5 | ‑4 | 3 | 5.5 |
| 4th | COMET | 815 | Dave Turtle | | Shustoke | 4 | 3 | (DNC) | 7 |
| 5th | SOLO | 5963 | Phil Snewin | | Chester | ‑6 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| 6th | MIRACLE | 4103 | Dave Thomas | Shan Stapley | Shotwick | ‑10 | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| 7th | SUPERNOVA | 1296 | Eric Haselden | | Winsford Flash | ‑11 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| 8th | MIRACLE | 3520 | Simon Dolman | Julie Dolman | Shotwick Lake | ‑9 | 6 | 7 | 13 |
| 9th | COMET | 437 | Pete Chambers | | Winsford Flash | 5 | 9 | (DNC) | 14 |
| 10th | SUPERNOVA | 406 | James Stark | | Winsford Flash | 8 | 10 | (DNF) | 18 |
| 11th | SUPERNOVA | 1253 | Ian Clarke | | Winsford Flash | 7 | ‑12 | DNF | 19 |
| 12th | SUPERNOVA | 1241 | Frank Lafferty | | Winsford Flash | ‑12 | 11 | DNF | 23 |
| 13th | SOLO | 6107 | Ted Garner | | Budworth | (DNF) | DNF | DNF | 26 |
The next venue in the series is at Shotwick Sailing Club on Tuesday May 14th, so why not come and join our friendly Tuesday club, it's better than being in work!
If you want any information about the series then see our website, bordercountiesmidweeksailing.wordpress.com