Buzz Open at Downs Sailing Club

Simon Cory and Annie Smith win the Buzz open at Downs SC © Chris Dutton

2006 National Champion Simon Cory from Deal, crewed by Annie Smith, won the Buzz Open Meeting at Downs SC, but only after fighting off a strong challenge from Pete Lindley and Matt Chapman from Chew Valley. The event, which was sponsored by the Wet and Windy Company who are the main suppliers of the Buzz sailing dinghy, was held over the Bank Holiday weekend in testing conditions.

On Saturday a strong North-Easterly had built up a large surf on the beach and the race officer Roger Phillips sensibly postponed the start until 3pm, by which time the waves had subsided. The first race was won by local sailors Tim Ellis and Mitch Webb, who had swapped from their usual Laser 4000 into a Buzz kindly provided by Wet and Windy. Pete Lindley was second with Simon Cory only mid-fleet, however the wind dropped slightly for the next race and this time Simon took the honours with Ed and Sarah Styles in second and Pete Lindley in 3rd. Chris Dutton and Martin Wyman were leading for the first lap until an unfortunate collision with the committee boat dropped them back to 4th. The fleet of 14 boats then returned to the beach for a well-earned barbecue.

On Sunday a strong and gusty South-Westerly had begun to build up some large waves for the start of the first race. Ed, Simon and Pete were again to the fore but they were joined by some new faces including John Cass and Julia Brazil who were revelling in the boisterous conditons.The new Hyde sails were proving their worth in the stronger winds with Pete Lindley and Matt Chapman showing impressive upwind speed. They took the 4th race after Ed and Sarah Styles had won the third. By the the start of the 5th and final race the wind had increased to a Force 5/6 with occasional gusts up to 7. This took its toll on the fleet with only 6 finishers in the last race, the rest of the fleet retiring to the safety of the shore through exhaustion or gear failure.

Fittingly the last race was won by Simon and Annie and with it the overall prize. Winners received vouchers from Wet and Windy, presented by commodore John Sharvill.

Overall Results: