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Both boats and bodies were battered but unbowed after two days of exhilarating racing over the weekend of West Riding SC’s Spring Bank Open regatta, 28/29th May. The forecast lived up to expectations with a background wind of 10–15 mph overlaid with squalls of up to 30 mph, sometimes prolonged, to give white knuckle off-wind rides and teeth gritting beats. Some of the gusts attacked competitors from varying points of the compass, particularly at the top of the beats, and the carnage was spectacular with many retirements and dwindling numbers as the weekend progressed. Race officer, Hamish Gledhill, nevertheless managed to get all five scheduled races away on time with courses an excellent mix of aching beats, nerve jangling runs and adrenalin rich beam reaches.
Each class had its own “Best Moments”. The Finns, racing for their Northern Championship, had a devastating first beat in race 4 when a huge squall went through, shredding the fleet so that only three made it to the first mark, the rest either heading back to the shelter of the clubhouse or sitting on their upturned hulls. The Solos thought race 2 was the most spectacular when those brave enough to start headed upwind off the start line into a seemingly solid wall of white water.
But the most mesmerising start went to the Lasers in the very first race when “He-who–shall-remain-nameless” let go of his tiller at the precise moment the starting flag was poised to drop. His involuntary tack onto port in the midst of the tightly packed fleet caused the biggest multi boat pile up ever, with boats locked together in dances of death before the inevitable inversion. Fortunately everybody laughed.
Despite the extreme conditions, racing was surprisingly close. Only a boat length split first and second in one Solo race, and no one boat dominated any class with wins being shared around. In the Finns John Greenwood took two wins on the Saturday but had to take second place to first Dave Potter and then Soren Vonsild on the Sunday, leaving the result dependant on the final race. Greenwood duly won this to take the Championship from Potter and Vonsild.
In the Lasers, Guy Cokill’s first and second on Saturday made him the overnight leader. But on the Sunday Alasdair McQuire added two more wins to the one he had on Saturday to win overall. Matt Cook came on strongly on the second day with a win and a second place to move him ahead of Cokill in the final reckoning.
The Solo fleet witnessed an internecine battle between father and son, lightweight John Gledhill taking on heavyweight Jonathan Gledhill. No quarter was given with overlaps being pushed for in impossible situations. The lightweight took the first two races, but a good big ‘un usually beats a good little one and Jonathan won three in a row to win the event by a point. Merv Griffiths sat out race 2 but soldiered on to finish every other race for third overall.
The weather looked ideal for Swordfish in the handicap fleet and Ted Farrance and Julie Tree duly took the first race. Tony Short with heavyweight Ken Carter had other ideas and won the next two in their Laser 2000, only for Ted and Julie to bounce back to take the event with two more wins. Tony and Ken had to include a retirement in their score allowing the ever steady Mike and Sue Fogg’s RS 200 into 3rd place.
Saturday evening included a gentle quiz to soothe the shattered crews, and after it was all over on Sunday many stayed on to enjoy a barbecue in the warm evening sunshine. This event has been run in one form or another since 1948, but next year the club will be looking back further as it will be holding a Jubilee Regatta to celebrate 75 years of sailing at West Riding SC. Watch this space...
Overall Results:
| Pos |
Sail No |
Helm |
Crew |
R1 |
R2 |
R3 |
R4 |
R5 |
Pts |
| Finn Northern Championship |
| 1 |
5 |
John Greenwood |
|
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
| 2 |
65 |
David Potter |
|
2 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
DNF |
8 |
| 3 |
35 |
Soren Vonsild |
|
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
9 |
| 4 |
668 |
Nick Turley |
|
4 |
DNC |
DNC |
DNF |
DNF |
22 |
| 5 |
16 |
Mike Woodhead |
|
DNF |
DNC |
DNC |
DNF |
DNC |
27 |
| 6 |
64 |
Craig Kirkpatrick-Whitby |
|
DNF |
DNC |
DNC |
DNC |
DNC |
28 |
| Solo |
| 1 |
4576 |
Jonathan Gledhill |
|
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
| 2 |
4751 |
John Gledhill |
|
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
DNF |
6 |
| 3 |
4662 |
Merv Griffiths |
|
3 |
DNC |
3 |
4 |
2 |
12 |
| 4 |
4957 |
Tom Langford |
|
DNF |
3 |
DNF |
3 |
DNC |
20 |
| 5 |
4752 |
James Porter |
|
4 |
DNC |
DNF |
DNC |
DNF |
23 |
| 6 |
4574 |
Mike Holmes |
|
5 |
DNC |
DNC |
DNC |
DNC |
29 |
| Laser |
| 1 |
190708 |
Alasdair McQuire |
|
DNF |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
| 2 |
169067 |
Matt Cook |
|
2 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
8 |
| 3 |
190984 |
Guy Cokill |
|
1 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
11 |
| 5 |
173168 |
Adrian Thear |
|
3 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
11 |
| 5 |
144999 |
Neil Whittaker |
|
4 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
19 |
| 6 |
188239 |
Abi Morgan |
|
DNF |
DNC |
DNC |
DNF |
DNF |
28 |
| Handicap |
| 1 |
S'Fish 202 |
Ted Farrance |
Julie Tree |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
| 2 |
RS200 968 |
Mike Fogg |
Sue Fogg |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
9 |
| 3 |
Laser 2000 2798 |
Tony Short |
Ken Carter |
DNF |
1 |
1 |
4 |
DNF |
13 |
| 4 |
Laser 2000 2053 |
Stefan Hunger |
Emily Hunger |
3 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
14 |
| 5 |
S'Fish 169 |
Mike Wallace |
Leslie Foster |
DNF |
DNS |
DNS |
2 |
DNS |
25 |
| 6 |
Laser 4000 4422 |
Richard De Fleury |
Joanna McFarland |
DNF |
DNS |
DNS |
DNF |
DNF |
30 |
|
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