Paignton Open for Single Handers (POSH)
by James Ripley 15 May 2015 13:35 BST
9-10 May 2015
47 boats turned up for this year's Paignton Open for Single Handers (POSH) regatta which included 5 Blazes, 7 D-Ones, 6 new D-Zeros, 4 Phantoms and 10 RS100s. There was also a mixed handicap fleet comprising of 7 Laser Radials, 3 Laser Standards, 2 Supernovas, 2 International Canoes and a Foiling Moth.
Saturday brought typical Paignton sunshine and a healthy 15-20knts from the south which caused a bit of chop on the race course and several retirements as the day progressed due to gear failure.
In the Blaze fleet, Paul Taylor using the smaller 'Fire' rig took race 1 as several other sailors went the wrong way – including Paignton SC Commodore Nick Ripley! Nick recovered to take the win in the second whilst Simon Beddows made it three different winners in three races by wrapping up the last race of the day.
The D-One fleet was also highly competitive with three different race winners on the first day – Nick Simmons, David Gorringe and Simon Hawkes respectively.
In the D-Zero fleet, Russ Hopkins took the first and only race not to be won by David Summerville all weekend who provided a master-class in how to sail the new boats from Devoti.
The International Canoe of Chris Hampe wasn't seen all day – mainly because he was so far ahead of everyone else that he managed to wrap up every race of the weekend in the mixed handicap class. The fight for second overall was a closer affair on day 1 with the Supernova of Ian Horlock mixing up with the Laser sailors. The second start saw a dramatic incident that resulted in the Laser of Benjamin Flower being upside-down on top of the committee boat! Gordon Kingston-Minnis took the first race in the Phantom division from Mike Tuctin who went on to win every other race over the weekend.
Finally, in the RS100s, there were three different winners on day 1 – Mark Harrison, Huw Powell and Shane Hughes.
The fleet then retired to the clubhouse for a home-cooked lasagne followed by – for many classes – a pub crawl through Paignton!
Sunday was slightly greyer and less windy but still a solid 10-15knts from the South. Local expert Paul Proctor borrowed a Blaze and took the last two races after finishing second to Simon Beddows in the first of the day whilst working out how the boat worked! Simon won the Blaze division with Nick second and Paul third overall.
Nick Simmons wrapped up the D-One division overall with two wins and a second on the Sunday. Simon Hawkes finished one point behind with David Gorringe a further two back. David Summerville continued to dominate the D-Zeros taking the event from Russ Hopkins and Graham Cooper.
Chris Hampe was the only sailor to win every race in any of the classes sending it round the course in his International Canoe. Iain Horlock finished second overall in the mixed handicap class in his Supernova, with Bella Fellows an impressive third in her Radial-rigged Laser.
Mike Tustin continued to rule in the Phantoms taking the event with a 5 point buffer to Steve Popple in second overall. Gordon Kingston-Minnis took third.
In the RS100s, Huw Powell took the event with a third and two bullets on the Sunday with David Smart 6 points back in second. The final podium spot was decided in the protest room, and then on countback, with Al Hall pipping Greg Booth to the glassware.
Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable event was had by all thanks to excellent race management, delicious home-cooked food, a friendly club atmosphere, plenty of help launching and recovering on the beach and lots of real ale! Hope to see you all next year.
Full results are on the club's website, broken down by class