Osprey Open at Kielder Water Sailing Club

Fourteen Ospreys came to Kielder Water for an appointment with the tail end of Hurricane Frances, with sailors from as far afield as Aberdeen and Brighton.

Race 1 started promptly in a deceptively manageable breeze. Half way up the first beat the scale of the deception started to become apparent as a number of crews fell victim to huge gusts and violent shifts, punctuated by brief intervals of eerie calm on the approach to the windward mark. Front runners 1292 Rob Shaw and Alastair Smith were among the swimmers, allowing heavy weather specialists 1276 Alec Mamwell and Ian Little to pull out a lead on the first reach. However, they capsized shortly after the gybe mark, opening the way to 854 Ken Carroll and Keith Byers, until they too succumbed. 1261 Viola and Mike Scott were briefly hopeful of capitalising on the carnage ahead but were overwhelmed and had to watch from their upturned hull as 1292 surfed past in a glorious display of force 7 three sail reaching. 854 managed to retake the lead but unfortunately missed the gate and had to back-track allowing 1292 and 1276 through. These two swapped the lead more than once thanks to alternate capsizes with 1292 taking the gun ahead of 1276 and 854, with 1261 in 4th.

With the wind continuing to build, the rest of the day’s racing was abandoned. Sunday morning brought no relief and the Race Officer regretfully brought things to a close. Although too little sailing was managed, the social side of things took up the slack, and it was mercifully too windy for the midges.

Overall Results: