Solo class Eastern Area Championship at Brightlingsea Sailing Club
by Godfrey Clark 23 May 20:54 BST
11-12 May 2024
Solo class Eastern Area Championship at Brightlingsea © Jane Somerville
On 11th and 12th May Brightlingsea S.C. hosted 23 Solos for the Brightlingsea Eastern Area Open/Championship, with the event being held jointly with the Merlin Rockets. The weather could hardly have been better with warm sunshine and a 'champagne' force 3 to 4 Easterly on Saturday with a quieter Force 2 - 3 on Sunday.
Three races were sailed on each day, all with triangle, sausage, triangle courses. On Saturday all the beats except for the last couple were across a strongly flooding tide which made it hard to judge the approach to the top mark.
Day 1 was dominated by local helm, Alex Corby, tacking onto port soon after the start and stretching away across the tide to round the first mark and not look back. Alex ended the day with a 2/1/1, with remaining honours going to Tim Lewis by grabbing the other win. The beats gave some good hiking practice, followed by some good planing and surfing gusts on the reaches to keep everyone entertained.
With many visitors camping overnight, the club laid on hot evening meals for those not brave enough to risk the local curry house and provided breakfast by the waterside the next morning.
Day 2 saw the fleet with a long walk down the slipway to launch at the bottom of the tide and make their way out of the creek before the flood gathered pace which would later require a course adjustment between races.
The day would be dominated by Steve Ede, taking three straight wins to secure the meeting while Alex faltered in the lighter conditions and Tim consolidated with two more solid fourth places.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 6045 | Steve Ede | Ardleigh | ‑5 | ‑4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 2nd | 22B | Alex Corby | Brightlingsea | 2 | 1 | 1 | ‑8 | 3 | ‑15 | 7 |
| 3rd | 5704 | Tim Lewis | Datchet | 1 | ‑13 | 4 | 4 | 4 | ‑7 | 13 |
| 4th | 5922 | Piers Lambert | Brightlingsea | 3 | 3 | ‑10 | 2 | 6 | ‑9 | 14 |
| 5th | 6007 | Mark Maskell | Blackwater YC | ‑18 | 7 | (DNF) | 3 | 2 | 4 | 16 |
| 6th | 6067 | Chris Bunn | Lady YC | 9 | 2 | 3 | ‑13 | ‑10 | 5 | 19 |
| 7th | 6016 | Jarvis Simpson | Brightlingsea | ‑14 | 5 | 8 | ‑14 | 5 | 6 | 24 |
| 8th | 5259 | Roger Wilson | Rollesby Broad | 7 | ‑14 | ‑11 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 25 |
| 9th | 4801 | Godfrey Clark | Fishers Green | 8 | (DNF) | ‑16 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 26 |
| 10th | 5665 | Paul Aldridge | Brightlingsea | ‑19 | 8 | 7 | ‑15 | 9 | 8 | 32 |
| 11th | 5703 | Stuart Worth | Brightlingsea | 6 | (DNF) | 14 | 6 | ‑17 | 10 | 36 |
| 12th | 5969 | Nick Barnes | Brightlingsea | ‑20 | 12 | ‑15 | 5 | 11 | 11 | 39 |
| 13th | 5324 | Steve Corby | Brightlingsea | 4 | 9 | 5 | (DNC) | (DNC) | DNC | 42 |
| 14th | 4343 | Paul Church | Brightlingsea | 11 | 11 | 9 | ‑17 | 14 | ‑16 | 45 |
| 15th | 6024 | Daniel Willet | Brightlingsea | 10 | 6 | 6 | (DNF) | (DNC) | DNC | 46 |
| 16th | 5745 | Robin Page | Brightlingsea | ‑12 | 10 | ‑12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 46 |
| 17th | 3847 | Mike Barnes | RYA | ‑17 | 17 | ‑20 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 54 |
| 18th | 5972 | Rowland Smith | Brightlingsea | 13 | ‑19 | 13 | 16 | ‑18 | 14 | 56 |
| 19th | 5717 | Barry Winter | Brightlingsea | ‑22 | 16 | ‑18 | 10 | 16 | 18 | 60 |
| 20th | 5249 | Nick Pighills | Fishers Green | 15 | (DNF) | (DNC) | DNF | 15 | 17 | 71 |
| 21st | 5535 | David Youngs | Brightlingsea | 16 | 15 | 17 | (DNC) | (DNC) | DNC | 72 |
| 22nd | 5417 | Steve Forrester | Rickmansworth | (DNC) | (DNF) | DNC | 18 | 19 | 19 | 80 |
| 23rd | 6008 | Patrick Young | Brightlingsea | 21 | 18 | 19 | (DNC) | (DNC) | DNC | 82 |
