Blithfield Barrel Series 2012/13 - Round 3
by Chris Martin 14 Jan 2013 08:31 GMT
13 January 2013
37 boats gethered to contest the third round of the Barrel, despite the forecast of no wind and freezing temperature. Initially the forecast looked set to deliver and there seemed little possibility of any racing which was duly postponed. At about 12:30 a light breeze stated to fill in from the south east which got the fleet moving. A well known midlands based sailmaker was seen trudging unenthusiastically towards the changing rooms!
The race started cleanly at the first attempt, the committee boat end seemed to pay as there was more wind towards the right hand side of the course, however there was a also a lift off the shore on the left so as long as you picked a side and stuck to it all was good. There were however plenty of shadows to chase in the middle. It was not a day to be indecisive! The light conditions and short race favoured the slower boats for a change, the Enterprise of Mark Lunn and Steve Blackburn taking the bullet, in second was Andrew Wilde in a Phantom and in third the Solo of John Webster.
The hot luch provided by Katharine Dugmore and her team went down very well!
By 2:00 the wind looked like it was going to play, now a steady 5-8 mph. A minor course change and a sqaure line again seemed to favour either side but the long runs this time gave advantage to the spinnaker boats. The Osprey of Chris Gould and Nick Broomhal led on the water, only to miss out the gate on the second lap - they were not the only ones! Matt Biggs and John Hackett won on the water in the Merlin, followed by Tom Gillard and Andy Thompson in the Fireball. Steve and Gill Leney were third also in a Merlin.
Full results are on the club website at www.blithfield.org.uk. Looking at the results going into the last round the Fireball can still be caught but it will take some doing! The top 10 are also wide open. The last round takes place on 17th February - see you there.