Revett Winter Series at Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club - Day 5
by Paul Heath 10 Dec 2015 08:09 GMT
After last Sundays gales, which forced the abandonment of all races, the penultimate weekend of Leigh & Lowton Sailing Clubs Revett series saw a healthy 44 boats and their crews all eager to get afloat.
Conditions at the start looked perfect with sunshine and a Force 4 breeze blowing from the west although it soon became clear after the start of the first race that the breeze was not consistent across the whole course and therefore there was plenty of 'snakes & ladders' sailing. The wind direction allowed the race team to use the full length of the Flash so the fleet were treated to long upwind and downwind legs.
As is the norm the 10 strong Laser fleet were first away and after early close racing and scrapping for places it was series leader Haydn Griffiths (LLSC) who got his nose in front and went on to take the win from Tom Keegan (PUSC) in second, Mark Lunn (LLSC) third and Howard Green (LLSC) in fourth.
The 16 boat handicap fleet (this included 9 junior boats) were next away and in the adult fleet it was the X1 of Alex Morrison/Steve White (LLSC) who quickly powered away from the rest of the fleet to take the bullet. Mark Cuthbert (LLSC – Supernova) came home in second, the 505 of Chris Jones/Robert Temple (WLYC) third and Mike Banner/Simon Cooper (LLSC/WLYC) in the Albacore fourth.
In the junior fleet it was a Topper one two three as series leader Sam Cooper (WLYC) took his fifth win of the series. Brandon Banner (LLSC) was second, Lorcan Knowles (LLSC) third and the RS Feva XL of Simon Hall/Emily Haughton (WKSC/LLSC) fourth.
Next away was the 10 boat Asymmetric fleet. After a close first beat a close group of 5 RS400s rounded the windward mark and began the long downwind leg. Hamish Gledhill/Simon Dowse (WRSC) led off while the four boats behind him gybed off to the left of the course to hopefully find wind in the middle of the Flash. All they found was a 'snake' as the breeze filled in from the right and Gledhill/Dowse disappeared over the horizon to take a large lead. Dave Exley/Nigel Hall (LLSC) suffered the most and dropped to near the back of the fleet but staged a remarkable comeback as Exley cherry picked the right shifts to get himself back in contention but just ran out of time and had to settle for finishing just behind Gledhill. Third across the line was Richard Catchpole/Gary Coop (LLSC) but all three dropped a place in the final results as Greg Booth (PDSC) in his RS100 10.2 was never far behind and took first place on corrected time.
Lastly it was the turn of the 8 boat Solo fleet. Series leader Brian Sprague was on rescue duty this week and all he could do was watch as his nearest rival Andy Fox (LLSC), after a nip and tuck race with Kim Cant (LLSC), eventually managed to get his nose in front and looked certain of the race win until he hit a mark allowing Cant back in and from there she held him off to take the win. Foxy came home second, Chris Helsby (LLSC) third and Dave Welch (LLSC) fourth.
After lunch the fleet launched in a dying westerly breeze which eventually dropped off to nothing and resulted in quite a few retirements and the tail-enders drifting back to shore.
In the Laser fleet it was another win for Griffiths. Mark Lunn went one better and scored a second, Ty Burrows (LLSC) had his best result in the series with a third and Keegan was fourth.
The X1 scored another first in the handicap fleet. Jones/Temple in the 505 came home in second, Cuthbert third and the Phantom of Mark Dingsdale (LLSC) fourth.
The top four results in the junior fleet were tipped on their head for this race. The RS Feva XL of Hall/Haughton managed to keep their craft moving in the difficult conditions to take the win. Behind them it was the three Toppers but in a different order as Knowles took second, Banner third and Cooper fourth.
In the Asymmetries the RS400 of Stuart Halman/Anna Walsh (LLSC) sailed a fantastic first leg and got into a large early lead but found a 'snake' while others found 'ladders' Towards the end of the race Gledhill/Dowse eventually caught and passed them to take the win from Paul Allen/Joe Hartigan (LLSC – RS400) and Catchpole/Coop third leaving Halman/Walsh in fourth and dreaming about what could have been.
Solo wise Cant was on fire and took another win. Malcolm Waddington (LLSC) didn't sail in the first race but managed a second in this one while Foxy came home in third and Helsby fourth.
So the final races of the series and things are very close at the top of the Asymmetric, Solo and Laser fleets once discards come into play. Who's going to win it? We'll let you know next week.
Full results of this series can be found via: www.llsc.org.uk/1/LLSC/Results/2015/Revett.htm
Full details of how to enter the Leigh & Lowton New Years day pursuit race and the Tipsy Icicle series can be found via: www.llsc.org.uk/1/2015/10/entries-for-the-uks-biggest-club-winter-program-are-open