WASZP Open at Bala Sailing Club

by Graham Priestly 10 Oct 2017 09:37 BST 7-8 October 2017

Six Waszps gathered at Bala on a blustery and shifty Saturday morning. With simple short sausage courses it was a first opportunity for much of the fleet to experience start lines and racing in a foiling class and it was great that everyone was able to get around the course, even if significant parts of it were spent swimming.

Stuart Appleby showed why he was top Brit in Garda, with some refined boat handling and intelligent sailing to win all 4 races and claim his first Waszp open win. Andy Hutchison showed admirable and surprising transferable skills, having moved recently from Solo sailing, to take second place.

At times the racing was close between all the boats in the fleet, the highlight being everyone foiling to windward off the start line (even if there was a gentleman's agreement to all start on port to ensure one less tack!). Special mention to Duncan Hepplewhite for his extraordinary acceleration in race 3 and to Graham Priestley for an impromptu study of shoreline vegetation.

Sunday dawned with no wind present or in the forecast and so the fleet disbanded with promises of another get-together very soon.

A quick shout out to all you Waszp sailors that are considering joining the circuit next year, please don't worry about it all being very new, the events, whilst competitive are friendly, have a mix of abilities, with everyone at the start of their foiling journey and are held in a spirit of inclusivity and mutual support.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	Pts
1	2078	Stuart APPLEBY	WPNSA	‑1	1	1	1	3
2	2	Andy HUTCHISON	Loch Earn SC	‑2	2	2	2	6
3	230	Graham PRIESTLEY	Ullswater YC	3	3	‑5	3	9
4	2436	Duncan HEPPLEWHITE	Loch Lomond SC	‑5	4	3	4	11
5	2294	Ewen McLELLAN	Imperial Podna YC	4	(DNC)	4	DNC	15
6	2019	Tristan PAYNE	Hayling Island SC	(DNC)	5	6	5	16