Wayfarer Northern Championship & Craftinsure National Circuit at Leigh and Lowton Sailing Club
by Louise Mckeand 8 Sep 19:14 BST
31 August - 1 September 2024
Wayfarer Northern Area Championship at Leigh & Lowton © Paul Hargreaves Photography
Over the weekend of the 31st August and 1st September Leigh and Lowton S.C. (LLSC) hosted the Wayfarer Northern Championship for 2024, as part of the UK Wayfarer Association (UKWA) Craftinsure National Circuit.
A small, select fleet competed in 6 races over 2 days in the champagne sailing conditions with a warm force 3 wind and sunshine.
LLSC is the up-and-coming active Wayfarer fleet in the north-west. Thank you to the travelling boats who travelled to support us.
Superb, varied and challenging courses with shifty and gusty conditions gave lots of opportunities for gains and losses.
Exciting and close racing between all ranges of Wayfarers. Oldest boat number 9000 with 30 year old sails was still very competitive. Mike and Laura, our newest Wayfarer owners, have only had the boat for 3 weeks but were brave enough to compete, well done, impressive. Darren and Keith did well to complete their very first open meeting, well done. Our open seemed to have sparked some interest in sailors on the beach fancying joining the fleet, let's hope they do. Nigel O'Donnell and Belinda seemed to have the talent for driving themselves up through the fleet. They did some big recoveries to come out smelling of roses, with second place overall, well done.
Myself and Nigel H, as opposed to Nigel O'Donnell, (lots of Nigels in the Wayfarer fleet!) were given a lap of honour in the first two races. I thanked Iron Man Mike, the OD, but said we preferred to go in for a cup of tea and a morsel of cake as a treat for winning a race please!).
No capsizes all weekend so couldn't give that prize out. A few people used the free camping facilities, and we had a lovely BBQ and cheap as chips beer plus music and human table football, what more could you want for an event. It's been like a mini-Glastonbury with sailing. All together a fabulous first Northern Champs at LLSC. Hopefully we entice more competitors next year as interest is growing in our fleet. Apologies to all the non-wayfarers for blocking your wind with our mahoosive sails
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 10747 | Louise Mckeand | Nigel Hall | LLSC | ‑1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 2nd | 11458 | Nigel O'Donnell | Belinda O'Donnell | Swarkestone | 2 | 2 | ‑4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 3rd | 9000 | Tony Tomlinson | Cathy Blyfield | Elton | ‑5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 14 |
| 4th | 10049 | Fred Duran | Martin Lea | LLSC | ‑6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 22 |
| 5th | 11211 | Phil Washart | Jessica Hughes | LLSC | 4 | 4 | 6 | ‑7 | 5 | 4 | 23 |
| 6th | 10806 | Mike Barnes | Laura Barnes | LLSC | 3 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | (DNC) | 26 |
| 7th | 10906 | Darren Watkinson | Keith Kelly | LLSC | (DNC) | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 31 |
Big thanks to Mike and his minions for running the racing and to Val and her team for feeding us with delicious food all weekend.
Have a look at some great photos Paul Hargreaves Photography of the weekend here.
The UK National Circuit concludes this season with events at Blackwater (5-6th October) and Bough Beech (9-10th November), including the Classic Wayfarer National Championships. Hope to see you there!