Hurricane 5.9 SX open meeting at Stone Sailing Club
by John Tuckwell 26 Jul 2013 09:59 BST
13-14 July 2013
Five visiting boats joined five home boats for the classic event in the Hurricane calendar. Of the five visitors three where from Island Sailing club, one from Stokes Bay and one made the long haul from Bala. Given the conditions of sunshine and light winds this was always going to be an event for the lightweight crews with the leading contenders being Richie Hanmore sailing with Kevin Bawden, and Geoff Tindale sailing with his son Jack.
Race 1 on Saturday the form book was discarded as the leaders straight out of the blocks were not the light weights but heavy weights of Mark Woods and James Hey who lead all the way round the course. This pair have been long term supporter of Hurricane open meetings and it looked like they were going to win their first race in an open meeting however they ended up hitting the outer distance mark of the finishing line, by the time they had completed their penalty turns against the tide and a falling breeze 3 boats passed and finished.
First blood to the Tindales, then Hanmore/Bawden 2nd and John Tuckwell and Chelsea Furber coming in third. Woods and Heys were left to contemplate the phase "to finish first first you must finish."
The second and third races now fell into a pattern with Hanmore/Bawden winning the second race from the Tindales and in the third race the positions where reversed. Behind them Tuckwell/Furber had posted a 6th and a 3rd while local hero of Neil Connelly sailing with new crew Simon Ellershaw posting two 5th and a 4th.
Sunday came and with slightly more breeze other contenders started to swing some punches. Race 4 saw Connelly/Ellershaw taking a win with Tuckwell /Furber taken second, Tindles third and Hanmore/Bawden 4th. Race 5 Hanmore/Bawden taken the win from Connelly/Ellershaw with Tuckwell/Furber a model of consistency taking 3rd. Tindles finished 6th. Sixth and final race and all to play for. Under pressure to deliver the Tindales threw at knock put punch finishing 1st with Hanmore/Bawden 2nd and Tuckwell/Furber posting yet another 3rd.
Overall the Tindales and Hanmore/Bawden finished on equal points so it came down to the count back as the decider which meant the Geoff and Jack Tindale had won the 2013 Stone open meeting from Richard Hanmore and Kevin Bawden in second and John Tuckwell and Chelsea Furber third.
The Stone open meeting is a favourite event for the Hurricanes and the club always delivers on organisation and race management. The Stone Hurricane fleet is a little subdued due to the untimely loss of Matt Gregg earlier on in the year and it is hoped that the fleet will recover in the new year. The Hurricane fleet moves onto Island Sailing Club at the beginning of September and then the Nationals at Weymouth.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 456 | GEOFF TINDALE | JACK TINDALE | STONE S.C. | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ‑6 | 1 | 8 |
| 2 | 370 | RICHARD HANMORE | KEVIN BAWDEN | STONE S.C. | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑4 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 3 | 483 | JOHN TUCKWELL | CHELSEA FURBER | BALA C.C. | 3 | ‑6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 14 |
| 4 | 405 | NEIL CONNELLY | SIMON ELLERSHAW | STONE S.C. | ‑5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 16 |
| 5 | 374 | MARK WOOD | JAMES HEYS | I.Y.C | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | ‑6 | 22 |
| 6 | 428 | ADAM CHARLESWORTH | PAUL CHARLESWORTH | STOKES BAY | 6 | 4 | 6 | ‑7 | 4 | 5 | 25 |
| 7 | 421 | ALEX BURLING | MARK GOWER | I.Y.C. | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | (DNF) | 8 | 35 |
| 8 | 453 | NICK DORKS | DAVID ELIAS | STONE S.C. | 8 | 8 | (DNF) | 9 | 7 | 9 | 41 |
| 9 | 264 | ANDREW DOBBS | SHAUN HATTON | I.Y.C. | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | (DNF) | 43 |
| 10 | 307 | PETE SHERWIN | EDDIE SMITH | STONE S.C. | ‑10 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 44 |