Harken Solution Inland Championship at Bala Sailing Club
by Kathryn Hayfield 22 Sep 2015 07:44 BST
19-20 September 2015
The Solution fleet was treated to the best that Bala SC had to offer over the weekend of 19/20 September. Both mornings, the fleet was greeted with the stunning sight of a perfect image of the Snowdonia scenery reflected in the lake and both days, the wind filled in a short while later treating us to a steady 15mph or so South Westerly.
On Saturday, new boy Christian Smart followed up his 2014 guest appearance by posting 2 bullets in the two races with Nathan Batchelor chasing hard for two 2nds. The rest of the fleet divided into 2 groups with 5 boats having a good claim on 3rd place and 3 boats within equal shout of 8th.
Sunday dawned with a few sore heads from the Bala beer. Nathan managed to secure a win in the first race pushing Christian down to 2nd. Kevin Clark took advantage of the hangovers in the remaining two races using his clear head to take first place in both. Nathan managed to hang onto 2nd in each but Christian held onto 3rd which was enough to give him the event on countback. The rest of the fleet carried on with their two battles ensuring that everyone had great racing and great competition.
Huge thanks go to Bala SC for accommodating the last minute venue change and to Harken and Ovington for once again providing generous prizes.
Overall Results:
1st 405, Christian Smart (Pembrokeshire YC) 7pts
2nd 456, Nathan Batchelor (Tynemouth SC) 7pts
3rd 455, Kevin Clark (Delph SC) 9pts
4th 449, Karl Milford (South Shields SC) 18pts
5th 446, Martin Tubb (Leigh & Lowton SC) 18pts
6th 435, Kathryn Hayfield (Delph SC) 20pts
7th 436, Peter Fisk (Llandudno SC) 25pts
8th 424, Julian Hines (Netley SC) 31pts
9th 434, Paul Welsh (Bala SC) 35pts
10th 397, Ian Ramsay (Port Dinowic SC) 36pts