Lightning Southern Championship at Haversham Sailing Club

The Lightning 368s gather at Haversham for the Southern Area Championships © Graham Webb

The Lightning 368s gather at Haversham for the Southern Area Championships © Graham Webb

Lightning 368s gathered at Haversham Sailing Club for the Southern Area Championships with local tyro Jonathon Pakes needing to prove that the National title he lifted a month ago wasn’t a flash in the pan. For while, though, it looked as though the thick mist and complete absence of wind would see a repeat of the total abandonment we suffered on the second day at Rutland Water.

A 15 minute first race postponement and a last-minute change of course saw Daniel Stewardson (HavershamSC), Pakes and Simon Styles (Evesham SC) off the line in a gentle south-easterly. Styles made it first to the windward mark, followed by Pakes then Stewardson, only to see Pakes take a penalty and allow Styles to stretch the lead right out on the downwind leg. A fickle wind saw the followers juggling positions, with Sarah Gordon (Haversham SC) and Nigel Webb (Cookham Reach SC) both in contention, but it was Gary Walton (Haversham SC), sailing the oldest boat in the fleet, who squeezed through on the overlap to round the first gybe mark in 2nd. The first lap saw Styles a clear 6 minutes ahead of a resurgent Pakes, followed by Adam Styles (also Evesham), Walton and Up River YC’s Ben Harris. A dying wind made the second lap tedious until Simon Styles clipped a buoy and let Pakes through. A freshening wind on the downwind leg saw the bulk of the fleet rapidly concertina towards the gybe mark, with much jostling before it all unwound on the last beat to the line: Pakes worked hard to hold his lead, hotly followed by Simon Styles and Haversham’s James Law, who had managed to find a clear route through the melee at the last mark.

Race 2 started in brilliant sunshine, but little wind. Walton, Law, Pakes, Simon Styles and Emberton Park SC’s Ash Farmer found enough wind to move clear of a becalmed fleet, with Pakes rounding the windward mark first, followed by Styles and Farmer, who all proceeded to pull away from the fleet on the reach. Three following boats – Haversham’s Dave Machin, Adam Styles and Stewardson – managed to get onto the long downwind leg before a lull isolated the rest of the fleet. The balance of the first, and the entire second lap saw Pakes gradually pulling out an unbeatable lead, with the next five places being fiercely competed for. Ultimately, Ash Farmer crossed in 2nd, with Simon Styles 3rd, closely followed by son Adam 4th.

Ben Harris got off to a cracking start in the 3rd race, closely shadowed by Pakes, Walton and Simon Styles. At the windward mark it was Pakes-Harris-Styles-Walton and a freshening breeze saw Pakes gradually stretch his lead downwind to clear the line on the first lap by 1½ minutes. The race now became processional in the constant breeze, although the final downwind leg evidently lulled a number of competitors into a false sense of security and key positions were won and lost before the penultimate gybe mark. Pakes sailed to an emphatic third 1st place by a clear 3 minutes on Ben Harris in 2nd, Simon Styles in 3rd and son Adam in 4th.

Overall Results:

1st Jonathon Pakes (Haversham SC)
2nd Simon Styles (Evesham SC)
3rd Ashley Farmer (Emberton Park SC)
4th Adam Styles (Evesham SC)
5th Ben Harris (Up River YC)