Supernova Open at Bolton Sailing Club
by Keith Roberts 21 Sep 2010 10:17 BST
18 September 2010
Supernovas at Bolton © Richard Craig /
www.sailpics.co.uk
Bolton Sailing Club is back in business as the work on the spillway nears completion and the water levels continue to rise. With Combs SC suffering from a lack of water Bolton Sailing club had been approached to run the Northern event and consequently hosted the Supernova Open on Saturday 18th September with 17 boats taking part in the competition. The weather lived up to the forecast of overcast conditions and light showers with a shifty F3/4 Northwesterly wind in the morning with a moderating Westerly wind by the end of the day. There were 7 home boats with 10 other competitors travelling from as far afield as Haversham, the Midlands and the South.
In the first race there was a tight battle at the front of the fleet between Tony Critchley (Bolton) and Mike Gibson (Bartley). Whilst Tony led for most of the race an unforced error by Tony hitting a mark on the last lap let Mike take the lead and take first place with Tony in second and Richard Pakes (Haversham) in third.
After lunch the wind had dropped off to a F2. In the second race, the OOD decided to use almost all the marks on the lake which led to the entire fleet having close racing. Four boats managed to get away from the rest of the fleet with Andy Flitcroft (Bolton) and Tony Critchley together with Richard and Mike having a battle for the lead. The lead group was chased down by Ian Moodie (Bolton), however at the front Tony, Andy Mike and Richard changed places several times with Mike eventually taking the lead and taking his second win of the day with Richard in second, Andy in Third and Tony in fourth place.
The third race was sailed in even lighter wind conditions and with a quick turnaround several boats were still on the beach as the OOD sounded the preparatory signal. By the time the third race started the wind had picked up a little and Mike, Richard, Tony and Phil East (Haversham) had a battle up the 1st beat but Mike got ahead and led Richard, Tony and Phil around the course with the finishing positions staying the same.
Overall Results:
Gold Fleet
1st - 687 Mike Gibson (Bartley SC)
2nd - 666 Richard Pakes (Haversham SC)
3rd – 525 Tony Critchley (Bolton SC)
Silver Fleet
1st – 576 Helen Brittan (Bolton SC)
2nd – 615 Jon Moreman (Craven)
3rd – 696 Keith Roberts (Bolton SC)