Solo open meeting at Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club

by Oliver Whitehead & Graham Knox 2 Sep 2014 15:20 BST 31 August 2014

Solo open meeting at Hollingworth Lake © Graham Knox

32 Solos, including 16 visitors, arrived at Hollingworth Lake to bright sunshine and a variable westerly breeze which was forecast to ease as the day wore on. As a consequence, it was decided to sail the first two races back-to-back in the best of the breeze.

The first race got away at the third attempt after PRO Nick Brook hoisted the black flag. The leader for much of the race was Oliver Dumbleton until, on the final lap, he mistook the penultimate rounding mark losing his lead to Steve Denison. Steve Graham sailed steadily for third place, followed by Andy Friar. These then were the likely contenders for the event.

The second race was started under the black flag again with one boat (Innes Armstrong) sent home. Andy Friar and Steve Denison sailed off into a considerable lead unchallenged. Behind there were seven or eight boats jostling for improved places. On a long run, two boats broke away into clear air. This gave Chris Brown and Oliver Whitehead the chance to pull up into third and fourth places respectively.

After a well-enjoyed lunch, the third race got away with another black flag start. Despite attempts by the PRO to ease the port bias, the shifting wind maintained that bias. The fleet obligingly held on to a starboard line but one boat tacked off a moment early and was sent home. Chris Brown was in control of the race from the first mark. Behind there was much place changing.

Although Paul Heath and Andy Friar maintained their positions to the end, others such as David Winder rose for a while to 4th place but overtaken by Lee Tennant and Innes Armstrong finished 6th. Steve Denison finished the third race in 8th place and was uncertain that he had won the event but his first two race results gave him the close advantage over Chris Brown and Andy Friar.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Club	Helm	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1	5473	HLSC	S Denison	1	2	‑8	3
2	5528	Draycote SC	C Brown	‑8	3	1	4
3	5397	RYA	A Friar	‑4	1	3	4
4	5312	Leigh & Lowton SC	P Heath	6	‑11	2	8
5	5505	Burwain SC	L Tennant	‑11	5	4	9
6	5386	Burwain SC	S Graham	3	‑7	7	10
7	5515	Sheffield Viking	C Gillard	5	6	‑10	11
8	4876	HLSC	Oliver Whitehead	‑12	4	9	13
9	547	HLSC	D Winder	7	‑8	6	13
10	5003	Nantwich & Border Counties SC	O Dumbelton	2	12	(OCS)	14
11	5518	Burwain SC	I Armstrong	9	(OCS)	5	14
12	5480	Nantwich SC	I Hopwood	10	9	(DNF)	19
13	5529	HLSC	N Hornsby	(DNC)	10	12	22
14	5449	HLSC	C Robinson	‑15	13	11	24
15	5398	Leigh & Lowton SC	A Fox	13	15	‑17	28
16	4723	Budworth SC	S Hubbard	‑18	16	14	30
17	4282	HLSC	M Smith	16	14	(DNF)	30
18	5166	HLSC	N Davey	‑23	18	13	31
19	3780	HLSC	R Long	14	‑26	19	33
20	5163	HLSC	D Hughes	19	‑23	15	34
21	5360	West Kirby SC	S Farrington	17	17	‑20	34
22	5408	Ripon SC	Kevin Vials	‑27	19	16	35
23	5552	Leigh & Lowton SC	N Catto	‑28	20	18	38
24	5109	Leigh & Lowton SC	A Catto	‑24	21	22	43
25	5016	Budworth SC	T Garner	21	22	‑23	43
26	4474	HLSC	D Smith	20	25	(DNS)	45
27	4509	HLSC	G Whitehead	25	‑29	21	46
28	4225	HLSC	R Din	22	‑27	26	48
29	487	HLSC	T Daniels	‑26	24	25	49
30	4734	HLSC	G Booth	‑29	28	24	52
31	4278	HLSC	A Waite	(DNF)	DNC	27	60
32	3170	HLSC	A Din	(DNC)	DNS	28	61