Noble Marine Supernova Travellers' Series at Bowmoor Sailing Club
by John Banbrook 20 Apr 2015 17:05 BST
18 April 2015
Hot on the heels of the Winter Championship, the Supernova Fleet returned to Bowmoor Sailing Club in Gloucestershire for the 3rd event of the 2015 Travellers' series, sponsored by Noble Marine. This popular venue, ideal for the high performance single-handed Supernova, attracted 31 sailors from across the country demonstrating the ever growing enthusiasm for this friendly but competitive fleet. Following a damp start, the sunshine broke through together with a 'lively' 15-20knt westerly breeze; ideal conditions for exciting, close racing.
The Open event was preceded by a Class Association training day on the Friday, led by Gavin Young from Cotswold SC, the winner of the previous event at Haversham. Gavin delivered an excellent day including a thorough session on boat set-up and rigging followed by an afternoon of on-water coaching. Ably assisted by Paul Earnshaw, the previous Class Chairman, 18 enthusiastic sailors benefited from some top-level advice and instruction. Perhaps this explains the continued interest in this growing fleet, all of the top sailors readily share their advice and experiences to aid the on-going development of everyone in the fleet.
The Open event on the Saturday comprised 3 races and excellent courses laid by Rick Plummer as Race Officer and his team of helpers. The pre-lunch race saw the most consistent breeze and a clean start for the 31 entries. The first beat split the fleet with half favouring each side of the beat. The course included an excellent fast reach, allowing for some superb planing action and a 'challenging gybe at the leeward mark. Cliff Milliner from Cotswold SC took the first race from Alex Collins, the teenager from Leigh & Lowton SC. Mike Gibson from Bartley was 3rd and Gavin Young a close 4th. All familiar names at the top of the leader board, but no-one was to have it their own way...
After a hearty 'Pat & Stan' lunch, the second and third races were held back-to-back in increasingly shifty gusts, particularly at the windward mark and a revised course to acknowledge the wind-shift towards the SW. The gybe marks became more 'interesting' and the rescue teams were kept on their toes. Alex Collins took top spot having pulled-out a lead from Mike Gibson in 2nd and Gavin Young in 3rd; Cliff Milliner was held to 4thplace to set-up an exciting final race. Further down, there were close individual battles taking place throughout the fleet.
The course stayed the same for the final race, though the wind became even trickier providing gains for those still fit enough to react quickly to the shifts. After an indifferent start, Gavin Young pulled through from 5th place to take a good lead putting the pressure on fellow Club mate Cliff Milliner. Gavin took top spot to give him a second place for the event; Alex Collins finished in second place, enough for the youngster to win overall. An excellent last race from Tim Hand from Sutton-in-Ashfield to finish 3rd and Mike Gibson 4th, meant that Cliff was relegated to 3rd overall for this event.
Other notable finishes were Mike Gibson, finishing 4th overall (equal points with Cliff in 3rd) and winning the Masters prize, Brian Smith from Bowmoor finishing 21st overall and winning the Veterans prize and a Race Officers nomination for Andy Goodman from Attenborough for perseverance...
Bowmoor SC would like to thank all the helpers and the sailors for making this such a good event and we look forward to hosting the Fleet again in 2016. The next event in the Noble Marine Supernova Travellers' series is at Bolton on 25th April 2015.