2022 Birmingham Hansa TT at Midland Sailing Club
by Phil Reeves 6 Sep 2022 11:57 BST
31 August 2022
Midland Sailing Club were honoured to host their first Hansa TT event on Wednesday 31st August 2022, with sailors from all over the country. The weather was perfect as it was a nice sunny day for the sailors with a steady north-easterly breeze of 10 knots gusting 15.
There were 17 entries over 4 classes which were the Hansa Liberty class, the Hansa 303 singlehanded class, the Hansa 303 doublehanded class and the Hansa 2.3 class. The most popular class this year was the Hansa 303 singlehanded class followed by the Libertys.
After a busy morning of rigging and launching, 3 races were run back-to-back, each with 3 starts; first the Libertys, followed by the 303 singlehanded fleet, followed by the 303 doublehanded fleet and the 2.3s together. The race management team in the committee boat were hard at work setting a course that despite the classic MSC constantly shifting wind direction would provide the sailors with a solid standard triangle sausage course with the finish at the windward mark.
The first race kicked off at 12:00 after a brief postponement, with a competitive start from the Liberty sailors. The five competitors had some high-level racing, with David Durston of Whitefriars SC taking the win, closely followed by Ric Cassell in second and Paul Pearson in third, both from Rutland. The second race was similarly close - David Durston took first place again, but Paul Pearson pulled ahead of Ric Cassell just enough to snag a second-place finish on the line.
The wind kept building throughout the day with some swirling gusts coming down at the windward mark, making for some exciting close finishes. This was evident at the finish of the third race, where David Durston fell back into second place with Paul Pearson pulling forward into that first-place finish. Chris Emmett, having made a comeback from his DNS in the first race, ended the last race in third place, while Tessa Watkiss from Frensham Pond had some exciting racing with Ric Cassell at the back of the fleet and pulled ahead just enough to finish in fourth.
So, In the series to date results Paul holds onto his first place with David keeping second and Ric in third just one point in front of Tessa.
The 303 singlehanded fleet was as competitive as ever, with some exciting starts and close finishes. Rory McKinna of Clyde Cruising Club took the lead with clear first place finishes in the first and second races, while Mike Everitt and James Woosnam, both from Frensham Pond, battled it out for the other podium places; while Mike pulled ahead in the first race, James managed to snag the second-place finish in the second race, making the third race an exciting decider.
The third race began with a gusty first beat and some important tactical decisions on the downwind legs and ended with Rory McKinna taking the win once again. Mike Everitt pulled ahead in the end and finished second, closely followed by James Woosnam in third place.
So, Rory and Mike retained their places in the series to date and James gained a place and moves up to third.
The 303 doublehanded fleet was much smaller with only two entries, Ian Chearman from Carsington SC and series newcomer Gemma Tuffey from Midland SC. Despite this, the fleet had some close beats, but an unfortunate DNS from Gemma in the first race allowed Ian to pull ahead, ending the day in first place and Gemma in second.
So, Ian and Enid are sailed themselves into equal third place points in the series to date,
The 2.3 fleet similarly had three entries; series leader Lindsay Burns of Frensham Pond took the clear lead and finished first in the first two races; having secured her win, she chose to retire in the last race and discard the DNC, allowing the other two competitors to battle it out in her absence. Khiaan-Paul Schild and Max Byrne, both from Midland SC and both new to racing, had a close day of racing but ended their competition with Khiaan in second place behind Lindsay and Max in third.
So, in the series results to date Lindsay extended her commanding lead.
At the prize-giving we were honoured to be joined by Councillor Mariam Khan, Birmingham City Council Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care who congratulated all the sailors and made the presentations to the prize winners
In conclusion the Hansa TT event was very successful as the sailors left happy with the way the Club organised the event. It was a really enjoyable day of racing and ended with lunch onshore out in the sun as the competitors enjoyed the gorgeous weather.
Overall Results:
Hansa 2.3 Class
1st Lindsay Burnes (Frensham)
2nd Khiaan-Paul Schild (Midland SC)
3rd Max Byrne (Midland SC)
Hansa 303 one-person Class
1st Rory Mckinna (Clyde Cruising)
2nd Mike Everitt (Frensham)
3rd James Woosnam (Frensham)
4th Debra Pennington (Notts County)
5th Hannah Nicoll (Whitefriars)
6th Dave Trott: (Midland SC)
Hansa 303 two-person Class
1st Ian and Enid Chearman (Carsington)
2nd Gemma Tuffey and Crew (Midland SC)
Hansa Liberty Class
1st David Durston (Whitefriars)
2nd Paul Pearson (Rutland)
3rd Ric Cassell (Rutland)
4th Chris Emmet (Rutland)
5th Tessa Watkiss (Frensham)