Enterprise & Solo Open at Minima Yacht Club
by John Forbes 20 Jun 2007 09:17 BST
Light winds for the Minima Enterprise and Solo open © John Forbes
There was a good turnout of Ents, but fewer Solos for the Minima Enterprise and Solo 2007 joint Open meeting, held on a day with an occasional south-westerly breeze, and sunny spells.
A cunningly contrived course led competitors up a long beat away from the claustrophobic bank-hugging reach by the clubhouse to do short laps under the open skies towards Thames SC to the south, with fewer trees and buildings and better exposure to what wind there was, and the occasional drop of sunshine. The long sheltered run back to the finish line was only occasionally soporific.
The 16-strong Enterprise competition was dominated by the top three helms. Unluckiest was probably Hampton’s Phil Chambers, who led both the second and third races only to lose out after a mistake at a mark in the second, and a strong finish from David Hodgson in the third, however Steve and Kathy Collins were never headed in the first race and were in a position to take advantage of Phil’s error in the second to win overall honours. Best of the rest, with a fourth and a third was Minima’s Alan Jales and new crew Lukas Cameron.
For the eight Solos it was a similar story, with Ian Hurst, John Metzner and John Kemp finishing first, second and third in the first two races and the same result overall.
On the previous day Minima took the annual Firkin Trophy team racing contest with Twickenham Yacht Club, with tactics which can only be described as close to the wind with respect to the interaction of the Enterprises and Solos involved.
Overall Results:
Enterprise Open: (Thames Valley Bowl Series)
1 Steve and Kathy Collins (Minima)
2 David Hodgson and Sue Whitcliff (Papercourt SC)
3 Phil Chambers and Ewan Gittins (Hampton SC)
Solo Open:
1 Ian Hurst (Twickenham YC)
2 John Metzner (Minima)
3 John Kemp (Minima)