K1 Open at Carsington Sailing Club

K1 Open at Carsington © Nick Arran

K1 Open at Carsington © Lindsey Bowd

Those sailors that looked at the weather forecast midweek and saw likely snowfalls at Carsington missed some champagne sailing on Saturday April 16th. For the intrepid few that made the trip to the lower Derbyshire dales they were rewarded with blue sky and sunshine on Saturday morning, albeit with a brisk F3-4 straight from the North Pole!

Alf Hawksworth had organised pub meals for us on Friday evening and led the briefing on Saturday morning. PRO, Henry Wainwright ably assisted by Keith and Liz Appleby, were to set a triangle, sausage, triangle course and racing got away promptly at 11am. Race 1 was a close fought affair with local boy, Ian Tinker, leading the way around the windward mark closely followed by Mike Commander and Dave Hume Laming. This order was maintained around the leeward mark. Fourth placed John Shimell unfortunately missed sailing through the gate which put him out of the running after having to return and correct his error. A closely fought beat saw Dave move into first place with a very narrow lead over Mike and Ian. At the leeward mark, Mike split tacks sailing left and with some 'helpful' cruisers hindering those on the right, Mike arrived at the windward Mark with a clear lead which he held to the finish.

Everyone moved ashore for a very welcome warm lunch helping everyone thaw out. Carsington's galley team did a wonderful job providing sufficient nourishment to encourage all participants out again for the two afternoon races. A flutter of snowflakes just before the start showed the day had not warmed up much! Race 2 got away cleanly and saw Mike lead and control the race for laps 1, 2 and 3 although Ian was never far away. Unfortunately for Mike he left a small gap for Ian to squeeze slightly to windward and sail Mike beyond the committee boat before tacking off and heading off upwind putting a close cover down on Mike. Things were sealed at the windward Mark when Mike thought the last lap was a triangle and Ian, sailing the correct 'sausage' run had a clear cut win.

Race 3 saw a few early retirements as the cold set in and the wind gusted to F5. This time, Ian positioned himself slightly to windward of Mike at the start and never let that small advantage disappear throughout the course of the race. Although the rescue team of John Webster and Nick Arran had little to do they are to be thanked for sticking things out on the cold water. And so some incredibly close racing came to an end with Ian securing the Midland Area Trophy. All K1 sailors are encouraged to make the effort to support the Traveller Series as a huge effort is put in by the host organizers. Next event is at Lake Windermere on May 14. See you all there!

Overall Results: