Hornet Open at Shoreham Sailing Club
by John Shelton 4 May 2010 14:46 BST
2-3 May 2010
Six Hornets travelled from as far afield as North Wales for the Shoreham Open on 2-3 May, despite the doom-laden weather forecast. Sunday dawned with a leaden sky, and continuous rain - typical bank holiday weekend. What wind there was died away, leaving a long cold wait on the water for the forecast northerly to fill in.
PRO Jim Gates took a brave decision to get the fleet away, and soon after the start, a Force 3 magically appeared from the shore. Steve Cooke & Alistair Hardy, sporting some new dacron P&B rags, spotted it first, and took a good lead at the windward mark. Strangler & Pippa Rogers were in hot pursuit, trying a new shape of North spinnaker, and Mike Owen found himself in third, sailing the venerable Francessa. The order remained to the leeward mark, but as the wind freshened, local boys Peter Bennett & John Shelton worked their way through to second at the next windward mark, after an undistinguished start. Cooke delayed putting up the kite, allowing Bennett to close the gap, and then to take the lead on the next reach. The order stayed the same to the end, with Cooke fending off Strangler for 2nd, after some confusion about the finish line.
A halt was called to the proceedings, in view of the worsening weather, and the fact that most sailors were shivering uncontrollably in their wetsuits. Never have the newly refurbished showers in the clubhouse been more welcome!
On the Monday morning, the northerly breeze was still whistling through the dinghy park, and half the fleet decided to call it a weekend. Those that stuck their noses out of the harbour accelerated continuously all the way to the starting area, set some 2 miles offshore to clear the effect of the beach. An 'interesting' squall blew up (one of those 'let all the sheets go and stay out on the wire' types) breaking the nerve of all concerned who then turned tail back to the harbour. Rumour has it that it was so windy that Alan Chaplin's teeth were heard to rattle.
After a short pause for lunch, the PRO wisely called it a day, leaving the weekend to be decided on the first and only race.
Our thanks go to the support teams for waiting patiently in the cold and wet, and of course the galley dollies for keeping us fed and watered. Hopefully, the newly resurrected Shoreham Hornet Open is not jinxed and we can hope for better weather next year.
Overall Results:
1st 2144, Peter Bennett & John Shelton (Shoreham SC)
2nd 2080, Steve Cooke & Alistair Hardy (Stone SC)
3rd 2132, Strangler & Pippa Rogers (RYA)