Crewsaver Tipsy Icicle Series at Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club - Week 7
by Paul Heath 18 Feb 2015 07:12 GMT
15 February 2015
Once again the AP was up for the start of week 7 but the temperate was up and the sun was out for the Crewsaver Tipsy Icicle series at Leigh & Lowton Sailing. After a quick lunch the biggest entry of the series took to the water (82 boats), boasting 14 new competitors for two races back to back. It was going to be a tough day on the water for all as there were some large wind shifts in both races and plenty of holes in the wind.
Laser Fleet
Race 1 – The Laser fleet got off to a clean start with Greg Marshall & Oliver Davenport pulling out a huge lead over the chasing pack. It was nip and tuck between the pair but unfortunately for Marshall he was later DSQ for a start line infringement leaving Davenport to take the win with Graham Macwhirter in 2nd and Mark Lunn 3rd.
Race 2 – A big right-hand shift before the start meant everyone wanted the Committee boat end and Greg Marshall was determined it was his place. A fantastic bit of boat control meant he owned the committee boat end leaving other's the wrong side of the committee boat or down the wrong end of the line. Biggest casualty was Graham Macwhirter who managed to sail the bow of his boat into the engine bay of Flash and was stuck for some time. However it was Mark Lunn who took the win by staying out of trouble from Oliver Davenport and Greg Marshall 3rd. The top 3 in the series are now only separated by 2pts
Handicap Fleet
Race 1 - Steve Dawson in his Phantom had the best start and was hot on the heels of the X1 of Morrison/White. The long final kite-able reaching leg favoured the X1 crew and they slowly pulled out a big enough lead to take the win. Behind them the Supernova duo of Peter Mackin & Mark Cuthbert finally managed to overhaul the Phantom to finish 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Race 2 – First start didn't get away cleanly at all, bringing out the first general recall for this fleet. This was greatly received on the X1 of Morrison/White as they got the start horribly wrong and was pinned on the wrong side of the committee boat, much to the alarm of those on board! But to great amusement to every other boat waiting to start. At the second attempt the handicap fleet were clean away and with the change in wind direction Peter Makin rose to the top to take the win from Morrison/White X1 with Wallwork/Platt 420 in 3rd.
Asymmetric Fleet
Race 1 – Returning to the series Pickles/Sharman RS400 stormed off the start and didn't look back, opening up a sizable lead and taking the win. Behind them Team Mrs Exley & Mrs Allen RS400 held on to 2nd with Kenyon/Dawson RS400 in 3rd.
Race 2 – With the committee boat end still favoured, series leaders Gledhill/ Dowe RS400 fought hard to win that end. Many boats were forced the wrong side of the line but it opened up a nice little hole for Williams/Turner RS200 to sneak through and have a great start/first beat. At the windward mark, Exley/Allen just got there first ahead of Williams/Turner with the rest of the RS400 fleet bearing down on them on the first run. Over the next few legs Pickles/Sharman managed to overhaul Exley/Allen and take their second bullet of the day, with Exley/Allen in 2nd and Gledhill/ Dowe 3rd. Overall Gledhill/ Dowe are still the series leaders however over the last few weeks Team Mrs Exley & Mrs Allen have eaten into their lead... Are they feeling the pressure?
Solos
Race 1 – Newcomer to the series Oliver Whitehead, took the fleet by surprise and sailed off into the distance to take the win on his first outing. Behind him there was a great battle between 4 boats, trading places on every leg only separate by boats lengths at the finish. At the end Graeme Bristow took 2nd also new to the fleet with Tony Sampson and Jon Whitehead just behind.
Race 2 - After a general recall on the first attempted start, it was Graeme Bristow's turn to sail off into the distance and score his first win of the series. However it wasn't a good race for Brian Sprague as he was OCS, collecting his second OCS of the series (must work on those starts Brian!). Patrick Hamilton came in second, a good "counter" to close the gap on series leader Paul "I'm on holiday in Iceland you do the report Alex" Heath with Tony Sampson in 3rd.
Juniors
After a week away training, the junior fleet was back in force with the Optimists dominating proceedings over the other boats. In both races it was Archie Leckie and Drew Gibbons battling away at the front for the win. After a tight battle Archie Leckie was the victor taking the win in both races by a few boats lengths over Drew Gibbons. Behind them Luke Stewart took 3rd in the first race with Lewis Coop taking 3rd in the second race.
The Crewsaver Tipsy Icicle continues this coming weekend and the first race is scheduled to start at midday. Full details on how to enter are on the club website and entries can be taken on the day at the reception desk.
Come and join us this coming Sunday for races 15 & 16 in the series. We look forward to seeing you. Full results can be found at www.llsc.org.uk/1/LLSC/Results/2015/Tipsy.htm