Blithfield Barrel Series 2012/13 - Round 1
by Chris Martin 12 Nov 2012 03:21 GMT
11 November 2012
A sunny, slightly chilly day with a pleasant force 2 greeted the 70 boats which arrived to take part in the 2012/13 Barrel series at Blithfield Sailing Club. The standard of the fleet was something to behold with current and former world and national champions from various classes turning up to race on what was forecast to be a calm day - luckily the forecast was wrong!
Race officer for the day Bill Watson set a long line, slightly port biased and aided by a favourable wind direction the beat was a long as it was possible to get. A couple of boats fell victim to the black flag but the race was underway at the first attempt - quite an acheivement! The beat turned out to be quite a tactical affair throughout the race with definite ground to be made if the correct shifts were followed, not an easy task in the fairly steady breeze. A short run also gave opportunities to take places if you went the right way.
The race was taken on handicap by Andy Couch who was back in his Phantom after sailing a D1 last year. Second was the Young Apprentice ably crewed by Nick Broomhall in an Osprey with the Fireball of Tom Gillard and Simon Potts taking third.
The now traditional pies for lunch were provided by the Ladies (and Steve) in the galley headed up by Jayne Tatton - thanks to them for lunch and for serving tea and coffee throughout the day.
The second race looked to be similar to the first in strength with a force two and the odd lump. It had however clocked round to the left enough to warrant a course change. The breeze did drop slightly as the race wore on though it was never a drifter. The two beats were tactical and provided plenty of opportunity to sneak the odd place if people around you were not careful.
This race was taken by the Merlin of Matt Biggs and John Hackett who were premature in the first race. The Fireball of Tom Gillard and Simon Potts came in second and the Osprey national champions (Gareth Caldwell and Jon Gibbons) managed to re-assert themselves over recently crowned inland champions by coming in 3rd.
A raffle for a halyard bag kindly provided by Creation Covers was held after racing and won by Doug Rankin.
All in all it was an excellent day with close racing throughout the fleet. Thanks to all the visitors for coming and to everyone from the club who helped to run the day. See you all on December 9th for round two!
Full results can be found on the club website.