Contender Open at Bough Beach Sailing Club
by Mike Murley 8 Mar 2015 16:40 GMT
7 March 2015
The Contender traveller series got underway at Bough Beach in Kent on Saturday 7th March.
Race Officer John Hill did a great job with 4 races of 40 minutes and no hanging around in between. The weather was up to the occasion too. Sunshine, southerly wind straight over the dam and gusting anything from force 2-5.
In the first race Nick Grace and Stu Jones set the pace just ahead of a small group which included Martin Frary. On the penultimate lap Martin saw big wind on the far bank, went for it and lifted big time to the windward mark overtaking Stu. And that's how the race ended. Nick, Stu, Martin. Class chairman Chris Boshier was just behind in 4th.
Stu made no mistakes in race 2, pushing Nick all the way to the final 100 yard beat and pipping him on the line. So it was Stu, Nick then Mike Murley in 3rd having pipped Martin to the line after some really close racing.
After a relaxing lunch of pie and chips (included in the entry fee) on the balcony, the fleet headed out into more wind for the afternoon racing.
Race 3 turned out to be a repeat of race 2 with Stu, Nick and Mike taking the top places.
It all came down to the last race with Nick needing to beat Stu for the series. So for the final start Nick fought really hard for the pin end just as in all the other races. Only this time he was all on his own as everyone else decided to start up the line. Yet somehow, Nick managed to misjudge it, arrived too early, hit the pin and capsized.
The rest of the fleet headed off for a tight race in plenty of breeze. Stu won and took the event. Local sailors Brian Whitmey and Pete Dives started well and went on to take 2nd and 3rd.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
|---|
| 1 | Stuart Jones | Datchet | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Nick Grace | Castle Cover | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | Martin Frary | Weston | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | Mike Murley | Weston | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| 5 | Brian Whitmey | Bough Beach | 7 | 6 | 9 | 2 |
| 6 | Peter Dives | Eastbourne | 8 | 8 | 5 | 3 |
| 7 | Chris Boshier | Thorpe Bay | 4 | 9 | 6 | 8 |
| 8 | Tony Brooks | Oxford | 9 | 4 | 7 | 7 |
| 9 | Adrian Smith | Hythe | 6 | OCS | 8 | 9 |
| 10 | Tony White | Lancing | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 |
| 11 | Jerry Hone | Lancing | 11 | 7 | RTD | DNS |
| 12 | Tony Cook | Downs | 12 | 10 | 10 | RTD |
| 13 | John McEwan | Australia | DNC | 12 | RET | DNS |