Hansa Traveller Series at Whitefriars Sailing Club
by Chris Stout 21 May 2014 09:43 BST
14 May 2014
Hansa Liberty fleet at the Whitefriars Hansa TT © Chris Stout
Whitefriars Lake in Wiltshire is probably one of the best venues on the Traveller Trophy circuit. It has very good facilities for disabled/less able and the able bodied sailors.
The Traveller Trophy meeting at Whitefriars was well supported with 12 visiting Hansa boats. The weather was good with force 3 north westerly wind and warm sunshine all day. Four classes of Hansa boat competed for individual trophies. For the Hansa Liberty had a fleet of five; the Hansa 303 single handed had a fleet of five; the Hansa double handed had a fleet of two; and the Hansa 2.3 was uncontested with only one boat on the water. The racing in the Liberties and the 303 single handers was very competitive and at times quite 'fierce'.
The Hansa 2.3 trophy went to Lindsay Burns (Frensham Pond SC) who sailed the only boat in this class. Lindsay started the first race even though she was not feeling well. She did not complete the course for race 1 nor did she start the second race due to sickness, but completed the third and fourth races.
The Hansa 303 double handed trophy went to Peter and Peta Etherton (Frensham Pond SC) who won all four races on the day with Leslie Philip and Hugh Lansdowne (Tideway SC) in second place overall. Peter got well ahead in the first race with Leslie finishing a good distance back. The second, third and fourth races were much closer but Peter was able to pip Leslie in these contests.
The Hansa 303 single handed races were strongly contested between Paul Phillips, Tess Watkiss, and James Woosnam all from Frensham Pond SC with the first three races all finishing in that order. However in race 4 the results changed with Tess gaining a well deserved victory, James in second and Hurricane Hadley (New Forest SC) pressing them hard to gain third. Paul Phillips won the trophy with Tess in second.
T he Liberty racing was much more open with no clear leader for the trophy at the start of the fourth race. Local sailor, David Durston (Whitefriars SC) gained a significant lead on the first lap of the first race but was slowly pegged back by Simon Harle (Rutland SC) on the second lap. David could not keep his lead and finished a close second to Simon. Tom Harper(New Forest SC) recovered from a poor start and finished third. The second race was closely fought with battle commencing before the start, where Simon earned himself a disqualification for a Port-Starboard infringement. Ric Cassel (Swarkstone SC) got a good clean start and went on to lead the whole race with Vince Barton (New Forest SC) following him across the finish line. Race 3 was led from start to finish by Tom, with David finishing second. The last race gave David a victory and made him overall winner, Vince crossed the line in second place and Tom finished third. Overall second and third had to be determined by 'countback' with Vince claiming second and Tom, third.
Prizes were awarded by Whitefriars Sailing Club Vice commodore Alistair Baird.