Osprey Welsh and Midlands Championship at Blithfield Sailing Club

by Viola Scott 25 Apr 2012 09:07 BST

Spring is here, the season is upon us!

Time to go to Blithfield Reservoir in Staffordshire for the Osprey season opener A.K.A. Welsh and Midlands Championship.

As always at Blithfield the welcome was of the warmest midland fair, with the Gibbons family in particular, taking great trouble to see that everyone was looked after. Twenty-one Ospreys came to join the fun.

The first race started in a gentle force 3 from the south-west. Kenny Brown and Chris Butters reached the windward mark first, but uncertainty about where to go next cost them. By the end of the race the breeze had built substantially, giving a hint that a proper work-out was in store. Martin Cooney and Peter Frith found a way through to take the race from Gareth Cauldwell and Jon Gibbons, with Viola and Mike Scott third.

Race 2 (after tea and cake) started under a somewhat ominous sky. This did not disappoint as a huge squall came through, causing spectacular mishaps right through the fleet. Weaving through the wreckage unscathed was the key to success here. Will and George Odling took the race ahead of Martin and Peter, and fleet newcomers Mark Weston and Simon Hawkes who, after navigational errors in Race 1, were starting to show promise of good things to come.

Race 3 was not a quite as eventful as Race 2 but still notable for a spectacular hail storm and a searing final leg along the dam to a running finish yards from the shore. Mike Pickering and Mike Priddle found their speed and won this one from a consistently fast Gareth and Jon, with Martin and Peter a lowly third.

The day was also memorable for some bizarre and terrifying medical procedures. Paddy Lewis, taking time from training up new crew, Peter Greig, noticed that too much oxygen was reaching Mike Pickering’s brain. A spinnaker sheet tourniquet was swiftly applied to unhorse him. The patient objected and was fortunate to be discharged. Whilst Paddy and Mike are good mates, total uncoupling of the “mated” boats was achieved along with about a third of Paddy’s kite through efficient swipes from the patrol boat Stanley knife.

Post racing Kenny Brown was found bent double in the corner of the changing room, his back having seized up. By good luck Nurse Springett was on hand to barrow him across to the duck van for treatment where followed a lurid cocktail of hard drugs and ‘intimate’ massage. The howls could be heard around the boat park. Amazingly Kenny emerged with a smile on his face and was still sailing fast the next day.

Nurse Springett, (or the Duck as he is more commonly known), had also had an eventful day and a second weekend of modifying his brand new but appallingly named Hartley Osprey. Last week in training he adjusted the bow in an attempt to lighten the ends, this week he decided to “borrow” the Mills’ shrouds to saw notches out of his plate. In the spirit of fair play, these mod’s will be reversed over the next week or so, none of it however was enough to dampen his enjoyment of the event tho’ and the return after his enforced absence from the fleet.

The day was concluded with the legendary Blithfield hog roast, washed down by a couple barrels of the brown and foamy - a proper Osprey social. Don Stokes’ video of the racing played in the background – somehow it looked more serene than we remembered it.

On the Sunday the fleet was lined up ready for the start at 10am sharp. The wind had other ideas – a cool force 3 but shifting all over, requiring a recall and course change before we were under way. The course was a figure of eight with some testing mark rounding’s causing the occasional difficulty. Martin and Peter won this with a very consistent score-line which gave them the championship with a race to spare. The two Mikes took second and Paddy and Peter third, meaning that competition for the places was going to be extremely close.

After another general recall the final race got away under the first black flag of the meeting. This race was won by Ian McDonald and Steve Hendon. Mark and Simon took second and Gareth and Jon third.

Martin and Peter had won impressively with 7 points, but with two boats tied on 13 points and three on 19 points, it emphasised the closeness of the competition. Two Blithfield boats in the top four was a great home result. Sadly Jon Batt and Nick Broomhall had one of those weekends when nothing would go right. Many boats had a couple of good results mixed with assorted mishaps, suggestive both of rust at the start of the season and the promise of great racing to come.

Many thanks to Blithfield for delivering efficient race management, superb food and drink. As usual they were also guilty of getting the season underway in great style.

Roll on Mounts Bay in two weeks time.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts
1	1290	Martin Cooney	Peter Frith	Poole	1	2	3	1	(DNF)	7
2	1348	Mike Pickering	Mike Priddle	Restronguet	6	‑14	1	2	4	13
3	1331	Gareth Cauldwell	Jon Gibbons	Blithfield SC	2	‑8	2	6	3	13
4	1285	Ian McDonald	Steve Hendon	Blithfield SC	4	6	‑9	8	1	19
5	1314	Viola Scott	Michael Scott	KWSC	3	4	4	‑12	8	19
6	1337	Paddy Lewis	Pete Greig	Datchet	5	(DNF)	6	3	5	19
7	1349	Mark Weston	Simon Hawkes	Filey/Wimbleball	(DNF)	3	5	11	2	21
8	1085	Will Odling	George Odling	RYA/ASA	8	1	7	(DNF)	6	22
9	1343	Richard Marshall	Robin Toozs‑Hobson	Poole / Shoreham SC	‑11	7	10	5	10	32
10	1298	Michael Atkinson	Stuart Maunder	Poole	10	11	‑13	4	9	34
11	1287	Rob Shaw	Ian Little	KWSC	(DNF)	5	11	7	11	34
12	1322	Mick Greenland	Lee Marriot	IOSSC	9	10	12	‑14	7	38
13	1338	Kenny Brown	Chris Butters	IOSSC	7	12	‑19	16	12	47
14	1292	Paul Heather	Jonathan Osgood	Wilsonian	12	9	‑16	15	15	51
15	1341	Russ Wheeler	J Wheeler	IOSSC	14	15	‑17	9	14	52
16	1311	Jon Batt	Nick Broomhall	Blithfield SC	(DNF)	13	8	13	DNF	56
17	1350	David Springett	Jerry Dixon	Ardleigh SC	(DNF)	19	14	10	13	56
18	1181	Alec Mamwell	William Crichton	Ribble/Coniston	13	16	15	‑18	16	60
19	1340	John Mills	Caz Mills	Shoreham	15	17	‑20	17	17	66
20	1201	Lou Geeson	Andy Watterson	Blithfield SC	16	18	18	‑19	18	70
21	1197	Paul Botting	Mark Mawhinney	IOSSC	17	(DNF)	DNS	DNF	DNS	83