K1 Open and Exmoor Beastie at Wimbleball Sailing Club
by Mike Deane 23 Mar 2016 18:06 GMT
19-20 March 2016
K1s at Wimbleball © Z Handley
On Saturday 19th March, Wimbleball Sailing Club hosted the first K1 Open of the 2016 season. Unusually for the South West venue, it was noted by some competitors from further afield, that it was colder at Wimbleball than Glasgow - some 10 degrees colder than the North... but there were steady Easterly winds so the 8 competitors had good race conditions.
Despite arriving in good time Jeff Vander Borght had a knotty problem and failed to make the first race – to the relief of some other competitors. Mike Commander take an early lead, and Mike Deane after a poor start fought through the competitors, but failed to catch up. Race 1 to Mike Commander from Teign Corinthian YC followed by Mike Dean (Windermere SC) and David Hume (Broxbourne SC).
Race 2 took place after lunch, and Jeff (Lyme Regis SC) with his knots now correctly knotted made a good start and headed to the lead, which he never lost. Mike Commander made valiant efforts, but could not take the lead, followed by David Hume and Simon Jones from the home club.
Race 3 took a similar course, and despite Mike Commander making huge efforts, Jeff could not be caught.
Overall Results:
1st Jeff Vander Borght
2nd Mike Commander
3rd David Hume
4th Mike Deane
5th John Shimell
6th Simon Jones
7th Toby Sherwin
8th Colin Allen
Exmoor Beastie - three K1s in the top ten
The K1 open on Saturday was followed by the infamous Exmoor Beastie pursuit race on Sunday, and a number of the K1 team took part, among 51 entrants in total.
Full results will be posted on the Wimbleball SC website, but the K1 highlights were Jeff who took second overall, after a long battle for the lead. Mike Deane took 5th and John Shimell 10th... or maybe 9th, depending on a small debate over last minute passing.