Firefly Open Meeting at West Kirby Sailing Club
by Chris Kameen 10 Jul 2017 21:50 BST
8 July 2017
Firefly Open Meeting at West Kirby © Alan Jenkins
As the tide moved up the river, the Firefly fleet basked in the sun ashore at Costa del West Kirby, waiting for the sea breeze to fill in. Race Officer Paul Jenkins kept the young fleet (more than half the sailors were under 16) ashore, and timed our release down the river to the start line to perfection.
Starting just before high tide, we got two great races in with place changes throughout. Chris Kameen and Olivia Nixon winning both races pipping Marian Armstrong and David Bromilow in the first and Any McKee and Oliver McKee in the second. Place changes were regular as the tide created great bunching on the downwind legs.
The fleet came ashore for a leisurely lunch and liquid refreshments before heading out on to the marine Lake for two more back to back races.
With a competitive fleet of 12 boats the short start line off the lake wall made for a tricky first beat in both races, but there were enough little shifts to allow Chris and Olivia to edge their way to the front by the first mark in each race which they held on to seal the overall victory.
The fight for all the other places was very tight with the McKees, Marian, Jon Hayley and James Bromilow and James Colquitt and Hollie Marston changing places regularly. Thrown into the mix was the emergence of Mike Hartley in a Firefly - an outing he thoroughly enjoyed despite being a bit bigger than the last time he sailed one!
It was also great to see friends from Budworth and Platinum Pam which was won in the NFA raffle last year by Nick Whelan. It was Nick's first sail on the sea in a Firefly for a good few years - I think he said mid 80s! It is the Budworth open meeting next weekend so let's hope they have as good weather and entries.
The event was capped off with a barbeque to finish... a great weekend was had by all.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | Smutty | 2937 | Chris Kameen | Olivia Nixon | West Kirby Sailing Club | ‑1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2nd | The Winter of Discontent | 1979 | Andy McKee | Oliver McKee | Rutland Water Sailing Club | 3 | 2 | ‑4 | 2 | 7 |
| 3rd | Shocker | 3609 | Marion P.Armstrong | James Bromilow | West Kirby Sailing Club | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑4 | 7 |
| 4th | Ma Hon | 3741 | Jonathan Hayley | David Bromilow | West Kirby Sailing Club | ‑5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 5th and 1st U21 | Racing Dee Man | 3751 | James Colquitt | Hollie Marston | West Kirby Sailing Club | 4 | ‑5 | 5 | 5 | 14 |
| 6th | Just Laundered | 2619 | Mark Hinton | Anna Ledingham | West Kirby Sailing Club | 7 | ‑8 | 6 | 8 | 21 |
| 7th | Ice Cream | 2471 | Ella Marston | Tom Hayley | West Kirby Sailing Club | 8 | ‑9 | 7 | 6 | 21 |
| 8th | Platinum Pam | 4270 | Nick Whelan | Emily Whelan | Budworth Sailing Club | ‑9 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 22 |
| 9th | Bear Boat | 3742 | Lee Matthews | Barnaby Matthews | West Kirby Sailing Club | 10 | 7 | 10 | (DNS) | 27 |
| 10th | | 9 * | Steve Hayward | Deborah Love | Budworth Sailing Club | (OCS) | 10 | 8 | 9 | 27 |
| 11th | Gemini | 3809 | Mike Hartley | Patrick Bromilow | West Kirby Sailing Club | 6 | 11 | (DNC) | DNC | 30 |
| 12th | Compo | 4116 | Amber Riggs | Hebe Hemming | West Kirby Sailing Club | (DNF) | DNF | DNF | DNF | 39 |