Tempest & Soling Open at Ullswater Yacht Club
by Sue Giles 8 May 2007 21:54 BST
5-6 May 2007
The first big open meeting of the season was held at Ullswater Yacht Club on Saturday and Sunday, May 5 and 6. And the boats were certainly big… it was a joint event for two of the big boys of the racing world – the 21-foot long Tempest keelboat and the 25-foot long three-man Olympic class the Soling.
The Tempest is a class boat at Ullswater and a total of 11 entered the event including two visitors. For the Solings, it was a towing weekend for all eight entries with the majority coming from Blackpool and Fleetwood YC.
The entries included the 2006 national champions for both classes – Jonathan Modral and Colin Meadows of Datchet Water Sailing Club for the Tempest and the Blackpool and Fleetwood team of Soling sailors Michael Preston, Brian Bottomley and Ron Preston.
And the national champions showed why they are the top of their class by both winning the six-race event with a total of four first places in a range of different conditions.
Saturday brought light shifting winds and bright sunshine. Four races were scheduled but in the light conditions only three were completed. In the Tempests, the Modral/Meadows team were the overnight leaders with two firsts and a second. Lying second was the Ullswater Yacht Club team of Jonathan’s father Ian Modral, crewed by Robin Higgens who were the winners of the first race of the event.
Soling national champions Michael Preston and his team also managed to master the tricky conditions by taking two first places and a second, also putting them first overnight.
After a blustery night, the conditions could hardly have been different on Sunday – a strong, gusty south westerly.
Modral/Meadows continued their winning ways by coming first in race four with Modral/ Higgens second. But as the event continued, the demanding conditions started to take their toll on some of the Tempests who decided it was wiser to call it a day. Ullswater sailor John Robinson, crewed by Chris Angell got a great start in race five and gained the lead on the first beat. After close battle they took the top spot with event leader Jonathan Modral coming in second.
As the strong winds continued, just seven Tempests were left to compete in the final race of the day which was won by Jonathan Modral.
In the Solings, the overnight winners of Preston/Bottomley /Preston, won the first two windy races on Sunday to clinch the event and did not even have to compete in race six.
Race officer David Sykes and his team, as well as the safety boat crews did an excellent job to make a success of the combined event of the ‘big boys’.
Overall Results:
Tempest
1. Jonathan Modral and Colin Meadows (Datchet Water SC) 4pts
2. Ian Modral and Robin Higgens (Ullswater YC) 7pts
3. John Robinson and Chris Angell (Ullswater YC) 9pts
Soling
1. Michael Preston, Brian Bottomley and Ron Preston (Blackpool and Fleetwood YC) 4pts
2. Ken Bailey, Peter Hewitson and Adam Fox, 10pts
3. Derek Priestley, Gary Adams and Neil Wharton (Blackpool and Fleetwood YC) 10pts