Bart's Bash at Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club

Paul Allen and 4yr old daughter Grace in her first ever race: Bart's Bash at Leigh & Lowton © Paul Heath

The sun was out but the wind was nowhere to be seen as sailors and spectators turned up for the annual 'Barts Bash' race. PRO Alex Morrison signalled a postponement and advised an early dinner and an hour later the flags began to flutter into life as a light southerly breeze filled in, was allowed to steady and then 42 boats went afloat to contest the event.

It was one of those frustrating days when you just had to be in the right place at the right time to catch the occasional gust. Those who sailed out to the left of the course suffered as the wind died completely and filled in on the right. Those at the other end of the line who tacked off early benefited from more pressure and were actually seen to be hiking hard up the first beat.

This split the fleet and class of boats up nicely and resulted in a mixed bag of dinghies at the windward mark. The RS400 of Richard Catchpole & Gary Coop just got in ahead of Matt Mee & Emma Norris in their RS200. They were followed by the Laser of John Wingeatt, Solo of Howard Green and Albacore of Mike & Kay Banner. There was a bit of a gap then before everybody else seemed to converge on the mark at the same time resulting in plenty of shouting and dubious rule callings.

The RS400 extended its lead on the water but it was never going to be enough to beat Matt and Emma in the RS200 on handicap. Third overall, and first junior, was the Topper of Brandon Banner who did just enough to push mum and dad into fourth.

At the end of the day we had 42 boats and 54 people on the water ranging from a 4 year old in a Mirror (supplied by mum & dad with an hours worth of sweets) to an 80 year old in a Solo (well we guess at 80 as Broatchy wouldn't give us his true age).

At the end of a great day a small prizegiving took place and a grand total of £230 was kindly donated on the day with sailors also being registered and sponsored online.

Overall Results: