Osprey Inland Championships at Blithfield Sailing Club
by Ian McDonald 7 Apr 2014 12:48 BST
5-6 April 2014
Osprey Inland Championships at Blithfield © Don Stokes
Twenty two boats exceeded the turnout in 20 years for a Blithfield open. The Osprey class may be over 50 years old but enjoying major growth. At the same time with four boats in the top ten more than fifteen years old, it's not just new craft at the front.
OOD Bill Watson set three challenging courses on Saturday and locals Chris Gould and Nick Broomhall won all three races on their way to a clean sweep of results. Blithfields Gareth Caldwell and Jon Gibbons reinforced their second position with Richard Marshall and Peter Grieg and Rob Shaw and Ian Little both pushing hard. Viola and Mike Scott shook off the rust to post two fourths.
Saturday evening saw the traditional consumption of quantities of food and drink provided by the "Blithfield Ladies" to confirm the boats ability to carry weight!.
Sunday saw more wind and very exciting duelling at all levels. Martin Cooney and Peter Frith moved up with Kevin Francis and Phillip Male from Castle Cove enjoying the stronger conditions. Again it was very tight racing throughout the fleet but with voices rarely raised and paint (mostly!) intact. The Meakings from Hamble finished off well with fourth in the last race.
With a strong open meeting circuit both on a regional and national level, the next major Championship is the Nationals at Porthpean in July 19-22, but lots more going on before that on both a national and more local level - see www.ospreysailing.org.uk or www.facebook.com/ospreysailing today.
Top five results:
1 Chris Gould and Nick Broomhall "Oh Spray" Blithfield SC
2. Gareth Caldwell and Jon Gibbons "Odeline" Blithfield SC
3. Richard Marshall and Peter Grieg "Luvbites" Poole SC
4. Martin Cooney and Peter Frith "Swift Wun" Poole SC
5. Rob Shaw and Ian Little 1337 Kielder Water