Albacore Open at Maidenhead Sailing Club

Albacores at Maidenhead © J L Heward-Craig

Albacores at Maidenhead © J L Heward-Craig

Bright sunshine and a pleasant WNW wind greeted the thirteen-strong Albacore fleet to Maidenhead Sailing Club.

John Woffinden/Erica Hunter (Maidenhead SC) got off to a good start and managed to keep pole position, finishing well ahead of the fleet. Minor placings were hard fought, with the Committee boat thrown about by the speed of the Albacores. Barry Wicks/Hannah Duncan (Maidenhead SC) took second, with third place to Matthew Metcalf-Smith/Lewis Brailsford (Sutton in Ashfield SC).

After a filling Chilli lunch, and with the wind veering to a more westerly direction, race officer Jon Hirsch changed the course to provide a tighter, more competitive race.

Again the fleet got away first time, but with the changed course the racing was closer. Woffinden/Hunter managed to keep the lead although they were in close combat with the nearest boats. As the race progressed, Bruce Preston/Peter Ford (Maidenhead SC) stayed in second position for the first two laps, only to slip down to 11th by the end of the race. Andy Pearce/Ian Simpson (Hawley Lake SC) successfully challenged them on the third lap, only to be beaten on the line by Crispin Read-Wilson/Conner Ciantar (Lyme Regis SC) who took second. Positions changed constantly, leaving no boat save Woffinden/Hunter finishing in the same position as the first race.

As the third race started, only first was confirmed, with Woffinden/Hunter having taken meeting honours even before they crossed the starting line. Positions 2 through to 10 were still in contention. The last race having the same course as the second, and starting back-to-back, meant a much tighter race. Woffinden/Hunter finished mid-fleet, their placing assured. Phil Tindall/Roy Box (Maidenhead SC) took a hard-earned first, closely followed by Tim Coleman/Jo Sankey (Midland SC) in second and Metcalf-Smith/Brailsford capturing third.

With such variation in race positions, and the closeness of the scores, it took a while to work out placings, but when the results were in Maidenhead SC took a clean sweep of Gold Fleet honours, with Woffinden/Hunter first, Tindall/Box second, and Wicks/Duncan third. Maidenhead SC didn't have it all their own way though, with Silver Fleet honours going to Read-Wilson/Ciantar.

Overall Results: