Streaker Double Header at Tamworth Sailing Club

Streakers at Tamworth © Andy Backhouse

Streakers at Tamworth © Andy Backhouse

Eleven Streaker sailors arrived at Tamworth SC for the annual double header counting towards both Sail Register Northern and P&B Southern Paddle series. They were greeted by a sunny sky and plenty of wind from the NW, a typically tricky direction at this particular venue, promising close racing.

Race one got underway around 11am, and despite a generous start line, two boats were recalled, Paul Jago (1763) taking Ian Whitfield (1900) over the line with him. The fleet remained relatively close up the first beat with John Aldhous (1703) rounding first closely followed by Ian Bradley (1817), new comer David Turtle (1761) and Matt Whitfield (1901). John's lead was short lived when he picked the wrong route through the islands, allowing Bradley, Turtle, James Dawes (1892) and M Whitfield through by the second mark. Local knowledge paid for M Whitfield on the beat to the third mark, taking advantage of better wind on the outside of the islands to claim the lead. This was lost by the start of the 2nd lap however, with a better beat from Turtle and Bradley allowing them to move into 1st and 2nd relegating M Whitfield to 3rd ahead of a resurgent Paul Burgoine (1713) in 4th. Places remained the same for the next lap, with Turtle extending his lead over Bradley, who had now been caught by Burgoine and M Whitfield. By the final beat the wind had dropped slightly and this saw Turtle's lead shrink dramatically, with Burgoine having passed Bradley for 2nd and now in hot pursuit. Turtle managed to hold on from the win, with Burgoine taking 2nd, Bradley 3rd and M Whitfield 4th.

Race 2 started in much the same conditions with everyone behaving themselves on the line. Burgoine got won the race to the windward mark, by some margin from Bradley, Turtle, Dawes and both Whitfields who all rounded as one mass. By the third mark, I Whitfield and M Whitfield held 2nd and 3rd with Bradley in 4th and Burgoine seemingly out of reach already. Bradley, I Whitfield and Dawes made the best of the next couple of laps, catching and passing Burgoine. Bradley pushed his luck against I Whitfield at the one of the windward marks and ended up with a 720 for his troubles. This unsettled the leading quad allowing M Whitfield to join the group with some momentum, taking advantage to claim the lead two marks later, with Burgoine and Dawes following. M Whitfield managed to maintain his advantage for the remaining laps to take the win, with Burgoine 2nd and Dawes in 3rd. I Whitfield managed to pip Bradley to 4th on the line and race one winner Turtle came home in 6th.

With such mixed results from the fleet it was still all to play for in the final race, with the excited competitors and spectators discussing the many possible outcomes. The race began cleanly with Aldhous, trying to make up for two poor races, rounding the mark first, with Bradley, M Whitfield, Burgoine and Dawes not far behind. By the 4th mark, Bradley and Burgoine had passed Aldhous who was battling closely with M Whitfield for the lead. It didn't take long for Bradley to open a significant lead, which would remain un-challenged allowing him to be the third winner of the day. Meanwhile, with the overall win at stake, M Whitfield did his best to pass Burgoine for 2nd but could not manage it and had to settle for 3rd in the final race. Aldhous came home 4th with Dawes 5th and Turtle 6th.

Bradley's win, Burgoine's 2nd and M Whitfield's 3rd in the final race lead to a three way tie for the meeting. Burgoine, despite his consistency had to settle for 3rd, and with Bradley and M Whitfield inseparable on count back, both having a 1st and 3rd to count, the meeting went to Bradley thanks to his win in the final race with M Whitfield having to settle for 2nd.

With plenty of prizes available the decision was taken to award them as far down the fleet as possible. This meant that the top 6 all received a bottle of wine, with 4th place David Turtle also given a Streaker Burgee for attending his first open. I Whitfield in 7th received a box of chocs, with the class association prize, another fine Streaker Burgee, going to Alan Ward in 8th.

All in all a great day was had by all, Thanks from the Streaker Class Owners Association and all who attended go to Tamworth SC for an excellent and close days sailing.

The next meeting for Streaker sailors is the P&B Southern Paddle Open at Alton Water Sports Centre on Saturday 11th April.

Overall Results: