Lightning 368 Sea Championships at Thorpe Bay Yacht Club

Sea Championship prizegiving 2016 © Rob Manging

This year the Lightning 368s were trying a new venue in Thorpe Bay YC on the Thames Estuary for their Sea Championships as part of the Thorpe Bay Regatta. The late start gave 10 boats time to arrive, set up tents and catch up whilst they waited for the tide to come in! Bryan Westley had conquered all challengers at his home club with his new (to him) Claridge Boat and we waited to see how he would fair in the lumpy stuff.

Race 1 got away against the incoming tide and a nice 10mph breeze from the east which meant it would be a race on starboard to the beach before the tack to the first mark. Paul White, Penny Yarwood & Paul Beven started on the pin end but it was Simon Hopkins starting from mid line (and nearer the beach) who tacked first and crossed to round ahead. Sailing a Trapezoid course Paul W and Penny reeled Simon in and Paul took the lead on the 3rd leg. The second beat saw Simon retake the lead and on subsequent legs just hold Paul W at bay going down wind to finish in this order ahead of Penny and Caroline Key.

Race 2 was held back to back and the wind and waves had picked up. With a change in Start line the fleet all went for the committee boat start and it was Simon who go the prime position ahead of Penny and Bryan. By the windward mark Simon had pulled out a sizable lead due to his excess 'movable' ballast and was never challenged to the line for his second win of the day. Paul W recovered from his bad start to come through to second ahead of Penny and Paul Beven who kept it upright this time for fourth. In both races Bryan (I don't like waves) Westley came in fifth but a lot closer than in the old boat.

Simon led overnight but it could all change with 2 races on Sunday and one discard to count if both races were sailed. However this did not stop the night's festivities in Thorpe Bay YC with the fleet ending up in Marcus Ingram's Camper on the Rum and Coke at 1am in the morning. The fleet emerged on Sunday morning for a hearty full English and the serious part of the weekend; the inaugural Lightning 368 Crazy Golf Tournament. A close fought battle saw two magnificent 'hole in one's in the last two holes by Graham Lazell to secure the 2016 championship by one point ahead of Bryan Westley.

Sunday racing and the wind had switched to the north off the beach and this made for some very interesting waves. They must have suited Bryan though who stormed up the first beat to round in third behind Simon and Paul although was heard to comment later that Penny was cheating by being lighter and faster downwind! Simon lead the first lap until a shredded halyard caused his sail to come down giving the easy win to Paul W ahead of Penny and Bryan. Having returned to the beach to tie his sail up Simon made it out to the start of race 4 for the shoot out for the event with Paul W.

A congested committee boat start saw Simon early and having to bear off down the line whilst Penny got the perfect start ahead of Paul W. However with the wind really getting up now and the waves getting bigger the fleet experienced the strange feeling of planing off the front of a wave to windward up the beat! Maybe it was the 'rest' in race 3 or the ballast but Simon took the lead up the first leg and kept Paul at a respectable distance to the finish line for his third win of the event. Paul W came in second ahead of Penny and Bryan. Sadly the race ended on a sad note as Caroline attempting to recover from a capsize face planted the boat and smashed her glasses into her eye. Thanks to Thorpe Bay Safety Boats who quickly recovered her and the boat and after a visit to A&E a few stitches sorted out the cut above her eye. Sadly her glasses did not make such a quick recovery.

So Simon Hopkins, with 3 wins took the 2016 Sea Championship title ahead of Paul White with Penny Yarwood third and Bryan Westley fourth.

After two events in the south he circuit now moves to Denholme SC near Halifax over the weekend of June 11th and 12th for the Northerns. It's the first time the fleet has visited the home of Chairman Jason Gallagher and after the expanse of the Thames estuary and small shifty gravel pit will be a new challenge for the fleet.

Overall Results: