Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club Revett Series - Day 3
by Richard Catchpole 27 Nov 2017 14:59 GMT
26 November 2017
After a lay day last weekend when the lack of wind caused the cancellation of racing, it was back to business for the 3rd weekend in the 2017 Revett Series on Sunday 26th November. A forecast of 10-12 knots with gusts of 18 was wetting the appetite of the competitors as they assembled in strength – 50 boats making it the highest attendance so far in the series.
As the competitors made their way onto the racecourse the wind decided to give the OOD a challenge by shifting 45 degrees to the right. A little patience from Gareth and Jen allowed the wind to return to the forecast direction before racing got underway with a 15 minute delay. The wind generally behaved itself from then on but tested the fleet again with a Northerly switch-and-drop routine late in race 1.
Lasers
After dominating in week 1, Oliver Blackburn had to settle for lesser places due to the arrival of new hot competition from other LLSC sailors in the form of Charlotte Greenhalgh, Neil Skellam and Paul Health. Charlotte picked up the line honours in both races with Paul and Neil sharing out the 2nd places. A 3rd in the second race of the day from Olly keeps him top of the leaderboard for now, but it looks like this fleet is set to go down to the wire.
Handicap
A two-horse race for the series gold position is developing in the handicap fleet, between Mike Banner/Mark Atherton (LLSC) in an Albacore and Martin Knott (Ribble) in his Phantom. One 1st place each this weekend leaves them clear of the competition in the series. Local sailors Eamon and Thomas Cuthbert in their Miracle got themselves a podium position with a well-deserved 2nd in the second race and the Scorpion of Terry Flannigan and David Greenhalgh (Pennine) scored a 3rd place in the first race.
Asymmetric
16 boats turned out in the Asymmetric fleet, and with a new course format to separate the Asymmetrics from the other fleets at the leeward mark working well, it turned out to be a cracking day. Dave Exley/Nigel Hall (LLSC) and Chris Pickles/Mark Lunn (Delph)made the front-running in the first race with Caroline Exley/Joe Hartigan (LLSC) close behind. Richard Catchpole/Gary Coop (LLSC) made a late charge to snatch 3rd place after the wind shift. In the second race Pickles/Lunn and Exley/Hall fought each other hard all the way with Catchpole/Coop and Hamish Gledhill and Simon Dowse (West Riding) is close attendance. A final downwind with 15 knot gusts saw some big place changes with Catchpole/Coop scooping 1st place at the last mark. With only a handful of points splitting the leaders it's still a wide-open series.
Solo
Brian Sprague (LLSC) once again dominated the Solo fleet with 2 first places. Tom Welz (LLSC) and Stuart van den Hoek (LLSC) continue to be the most likely challengers as they picked a 2nd place each. Chris Helsby (LLSC) and Malcolm Waddington (LLSC) picked up the 3rd places.
Junior
With most of the Toppers away for the week, Ceridwen Bell (LLSC) took charge in her Laser 4.7, winning both races. Noe Peckham (LLSC) picked up 2nd place in the first race, John Bridgeman (LLSC) picked up very useful points with a 3rd and 2nd while Ben Welfare battled his Optimist around in the final windy race to finish 3rd. This is a another series that is open for the taking with many in contention with 2 weeks left to go.
The Revett series runs through to the 10th December and, following a short break, is followed by the New Years Day pursuit race. The Tipsy Icicle series starts 7th January 2018 and runs through until the 11th March. All events are open to club sailors and visitors alike.
If you are a visitor and intend to take part in either event please help us to help you (discounts available) by entering online via webcollect.org.uk/llsc/event/winter-2017-2018
Results to date can be found at www.llsc.org.uk/LLSC/Results/2017/Revett.htm?v=1