Steeple Chase at Marconi Sailing Club and Stone Sailing Club

The annual catamaran battle between Marconi Sailing Club and Stone Sailing Club was well attended this year with 28 entries. The event consists of two long distance races around the River Blackwater in Essex, one hosted by Marconi Sailing Club and the other by Stone Sailing Club. The forecast was not looking great for the weekend with light airs on Saturday and too much wind on Sunday, as usual the forecast did not deliver.

Saturday

Saturday's racing was held by Stone Sailing Club, Wendy set a course of around Osea Island and down to the Bradwell baffle and back, a course of around 16km. The course was set for light airs but the weather changed once out of the race course.

The start of the race was a little difficult with patchy winds down the line and many competitors sailing into holes watching the others take off towards Osea Island. The first beat saw the Tornado's off Lee Morgan and David Allan take an early lead closly followed by the main bulk of the fleet. Once around the island it was a kite hoist for the majority and then a long downwind leg through the gate and onto the Baffle. By the time the downwind leg had started for the front competitors the wind had picked up to a steady force 3. The downwind leg really split the fleet apart with the Tornado's and a handful of F18's pulling away. Although behind, the F18's were hard on the tails of the lead boats.

By the time the lead boats were back at the finish line outside Stone Sailing Club the slower catamarans were just leaving the gate and heading to the baffle. Shortly after the wind dropped causing a long distance race to be even longer for the Darts and Shearwaters. After racing Stone hosted their famous BBQ where all competitors tucked in.

Sunday

Sunday's racing started earlier in the day at Marconi Sailing Club with a lower tide. The course could not incorporate round the island because of the water level but race officers Dave and Kate Williams set a course of channel marker 2 and the baffle, a course of around 15km.

The start was much cleaner than the Saturday with more wind and a great breeze for the competitors. The Tornado's took an early lead again with near perfect conditions for the big cats, the first four Tornado's all rounded the windward mark together closely followed by a handful of F18's and Hurricanes.

The conditions for the downwind leg were perfect with small waves and a force 4 blowing through the reachers of the larger cats. The baffle appeared very quickly with the Tornado's rounding the baffle together again, a great close race.

By the time the fleet had come back down through the line and to the windward mark again the Tornado's of Lee Morgan and David Allan were still neck and neck. Behind the Tornado's were the F18's of Trevor Bawden and Steve Monks, the Nacra and Capricorn were also having a great battle. The larger cats finsihed after two laps with the three Tornado's of David Allan, Lee Morgan and Phil Marks all finishing within 4 seconds of each other closely followed by Lee Harrison and Andrew Dowley. The smaller cats completed one lap of the course finishing at around the 2 hour mark with the Shearwater leading the way followed by the Darts.

I think everyone would agree that the event was a great success with perfect conditions. A big thank you to both clubs and all the volunteers for hosting the event.

Congratulations to Trevor Bawden and Tom Wass for winning the event overall and to Stone Sailing Club for retaining the team trophy once again!

Overall Results: