Sprint 15 Windsport Catparts Winter Series - Overall
by Bob Carter 31 Mar 2018 15:17 BST
Sprint 15 Winter TT at Rutland © Jenny Ball
Paul Grattage retained the Sprint 15 Winter Traveller Trophy after a winter series which was heavily disrupted by bad weather. Five events (one per month) were planned but only Stewartby and Draycote were unaffected by the weather.
The Rutland event planned for December had to be postponed because of an amber snow warning and then when it was rerun on 25 February it was bitterly cold and just ahead of the 'Beast from the East' snow emergency which put many off travelling.
The Thorpe Bay event was abandoned as no wind materialised, although good racing was possible the next day for those that could stay over.
Finally, the Grafham event was just a few days after the second Beast from the East and this reduced the desire to travel (together with the loss of other events meaning many of the regulars could no longer qualify with 3 results).
So Grattage was rewarded by travelling to the right events and won the series easily (1,1,1) from new Class Chairman Ed Tuite Dalton (2,4,3) and George Love (3,4,4). Heather Knowles of Shanklin Sailing Club was the top lady.
The Summer Traveller Series starts at Marconi on 14/15 April.
Overall Winter Series Results:
1st P Grattage (Shanklin) 3 pts
2nd E Tuite Dalton (Draycote) 9pts
3rd G Love (Carsington) 11pts
4th J Pearse (Marconi) 17pts
5th G Goldstone (Queen Mary) 21 pts
6th H Knowles (Shanklin)