Albacore Open and Training at Maidenhead Sailing Club

Training included video record © John Woofinden

First Albacore open meeting of © John Woofinden

First Albacore open meeting of © John Woofinden

The weekend of 12/13th April saw the first Albacore open meeting of the year. The weekend started on the Saturday with a training event that attracted visitors from as far south as Southampton and as far north as Sheffield. This was the first Albacore training event the club had run for many years and proved to be very successful.

A south-westerly breeze was supplied by the Met Office allowing for good training both on shore and on the water. This consisted of a session on rig set up on land, w ith on the water coaching with video recording for later observation and de-briefing.

Sunday arrived with disappointingly next to no wind, however the disappointment was short lived as the wind soon filled in. A Garmin of 20 Albacores took to the water, a record for recent years, some of who had travelled even further that those who had turned up on the Saturday. We now had boats from Lyme Regis and as far north as Grimsby and Cheshire.

The race officer had a tough job to set a course, wit h a wind shifting by over 90 degrees at times. 20 boats on a short start line presented a challenge too for the competitors, with tactical decisions to be made between bias end start and tactical positioning.

In the first race Norman Halstead and Ruth Birkett lead at the first mark followed by Jerry and Pauline Rook with John and Janet Woffinden in pursuit. These three broke away from the fleet and kept their positions to the finish.

The wind had shifted for the second race, so a new cour se was set in attempt to cover all possible directions predicted by the various conflicting forecasts. With a heavily bias start line, Mike Banner crewed by Owen Padfield, crossed the fleet on port and lead at the first mark. They were chased by Norman and Ruth with Jerry and Pauline in third. By now the wind had shifted to the one direction that had not been forecast and the race turned into a procession without a full beat. There were few place changes except on the runs, but Norman managed to overhaul Mike to take his second bullet and with it the event. Jerry and Pauline took third.

The course was again reset for the final race. With Norman having to take turns and Jerry's alternative route around the island failing to pay off, some different boats were seen at the front at the first mark. John and Janet Woffinden lead, closely followed by Ron and Julie James with Derrick Williams and Julie Maidment close behind. John and Janet managed to retain their lead to the finish, but Norman and Ruth carved their way back through the fleet to take second place, with Derrick and Julie taking third.

In order to encourage those that are new to the class, or those who have older boats, a new prize was awarded for the first Silver fleet boat. This was won by Andy Pearce and Ian Simpson.

More photos and a link to event video will be posted on the Maidenhead Sailing Club web site.

Results: