GP14 Northern Bell Series at Budworth Sailing Club
by Craig Hewett 6 Jun 2011 12:51 BST
5 June 2011
Budworth SC in Cheshire hosted the fifth round of the GP14 Northern Bell Championship with its Open Meeting on Sunday 5th June.
In one of the best attended open meetings of the season 26 GP14s entered, with visitors coming from as far a field as Cumbria and the East Midlands to enjoy the renowned hospitality and competitive fleet racing at Budworth SC. Conditions were challenging with a light shifty easterly and occasional drizzle but, as ever, the competition was close and PRO Harry Brown and team coped superbly with the conditions ensuring good beats, clean starts and no protests in all 3 races.
Mike and Liz Senior of South Staffs SC were on commanding form, dominating all three races from start to finish. But competition was intense amongst the rest of the Gold Fleet sailors with Martin Brennan (Hollingworth Lake SC), Innes Armstrong (Burwain SC) and Bill Kenyon (Budworth SC) all swapping positions from beat to run and lap to lap. In the end Martin Brennan was second overall and as a result Martin extends his lead in the 2011 GP14 Northern Bell Championship.
Competition was also close in the other fleets, particularly amongst the 10 other home fleet entries with Andrew Brown, Ted Garner and Ray Bailey all on good form. The Ladies Helm prize went to Julie Waddington from Bolton SC.
Overall Results:
1st Mike Senior & Liz Senior (S Staffs SC)
2nd Martin Brennan & Alistair Knott (Hollingworth Lake SC)
3rd Innes Armstrong & Thomas Bennett (Burwain SC)