Wilsonian Grand Prix at Wilsonian Sailing Club
by Peter Horner 25 Jun 2004 12:35 BST
20/06/2004
There was an excellent entry of 51 boats including 21 visitors. Run around high tide the course covered 16 miles of the River Medway including several creeks off the main channel. The wind varied from force 3 to 5 with some severe gusts providing exciting conditions.
The entry was split into three fleets (slow, medium, fast) starting at 10 minute intervals. Eleven boats found the going too much and retired early on. Wilsonian’s Tony Hunt and David Bourne (Laser 3000) had no problems and appeared to be supercharged as they quickly pulled away from the rest of the medium fleet. By the halfway point they had overtaken the slow fleet and were a mile clear.
Fastest boat on the course, Neil Ashby and Roz Allen (RS800) powered ahead on the return leg and took line honours in a time of 1hr 11min over 10 minutes ahead of the next boat. However Tony Hunt/David Bourne beat them by a minute on corrected time. Richard Stone and Sue Millar (Medway YC) won the battle of the ten Wayfarers, just snatching the last prize position (7th) from David Roberts and Mike Bryant (Bough Beech SC).
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Type | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club |
|---|
| 1st | Laser 3000 | 3448 | Tony Hunt | David Bourne | Wilsonian SC |
| 2nd | RS800 | 838 | Neil Ashby | Roz Allen | Wilsonian SC |
| 3rd | Laser 4000 | 4496 | David Mason | Stuart Mason | Wilsonian SC |
| 4th | RS400 | 964 | Chris Ashby | Mick Smith | Wilsonian SC |
| 5th | Vortex | 1160 | Tony Coulson | | Wilsonian SC |
Full Results: