Blithfield Barrel Series at Blithfield Sailing Club - Week 3
by Tim Male 17 Jan 2006 16:07 GMT
15 January 2006
Gareth Caldwell wins race two at the Blithfield Barrel in his International Canoe © Don Stokes
Sundays penultimate Blithfield Barrel weekend was finally blessed with some wind! With entries in excess of 30 boats, and some fast reaches, the competitors were able to enjoy blasting around 300 acres of the reservoir.
With boats ranging from International Canoes to Mirrors, there was quite a variety of craft, however, it was the Merlin Rocket from Speed Sails duo Davis and Jeffcoate who mastered the conditions to win the first race by quite a margin. Further down the fleet, another 10 Merlins were battling it out along with a fair number of Lasers, Solos and Supernovas. The second race was taken by Gareth Caldwell in his International Canoe who stayed upright to hold the lead, despite taking a 360ยบ penalty.
On the leaderboard 1st position is still occupied by Blithfield's Biggs and Crockett in their Merlin. Midland SC sailors Martin and Gould, also in a Merlin are now challenging for 2nd position after a storming weekend.
The final two races are on the 12th February, hopefully, the wind will continue to build. Full results are available at www.blithfield.org.uk