Enterprise Open Meeting at Melton Mowbray Sailing Club

This event, the eight in the 2011 Enterprise Midland Area Double Chine Series, sponsored by Speed Sails, was held at Melton Mowbray SC on Saturday 2nd July. The nine boat fleet included three visitors from Staunton Harold, Midland and Sutton sailing clubs. The day was warm and sunny with a light and variable wind.

Race one saw a sixteen boat mass start as this event was being shared with the Leader class on the same start line. A reaching start saw Nigel and Diana Pepperdine (Staunton Harold SC) take the lead. A congested and chaotic first mark saw Nigel and Diana round first followed by Dave and Gill Simmonds (Melton Mowbray SC) with Peter Pollard and Diane Graham (Melton Mowbray SC) third.

The third mark saw Mike Cossey and Christine Barron (Sutton SC) pass Dave and Gill to get second with Peter and Diane third. A battle for fourth and fifth places then took place with eventually Paul Young and Alex Homer (Midland SC) getting the better of Dave and Gill to secure fourth place. Ahead Mike and Christine and Peter and Diane battled constantly with Mike and Christine taking second near the finish line.

After an excellent ploughman’s lunch with stilton cheese and homemade scones with jam and cream, the second race started on a new course. Peter and Diane had an excellent start and led at the first mark from Mike and Christine second, Dave and Gill third and Nigel and Diana fourth. Two legs later Nigel and Diana passed Dave and Gill to gain third. Peter and Diane built up a good lead until Mike and Christine passed them briefly between buoys five and six.

Undaunted Peter and Diane regained their lead to win. Second place was hard fought between Nigel and Diana and Mike and Christine with Nigel and Diana sailing well to take second, Mike and Christine were third, and Dave and Gill narrowly beating Paul and Alex on the finish line to grab fourth.

The third race was started on another new course. Paul and Alex started from the middle of the line and went into to the lead whilst most of their rivals who started at the left hand end were becalmed. Paul and Alex took full advantage of the conditions and built a substantial lead to win by over three minutes to grab third place overall. Behind Nigel and Diana and Peter and Diane exchanged places a few times. At the finish Nigel and Diana led, finishing second which was enough to make them the overall winners. Peter and Diane finished third to secure the overall runners up spot.

Winning helm Nigel Pepperdine thanked everyone involved at Melton Mowbray SC for their time and effort in making the day a success.

Overall Results

1st - 20518 - Nigel and Diana Pepperdine - Staunton Harold SC - 3pts
2nd - 23247 - Peter Pollard /Diane Graham - Melton Mowbray SC - 4pts
3rd - 22901 - Paul Young / Alex Homer - Midland SC - 5pts
4th - 22823 - Mike Cossey/Christine Barron - Sutton SC - 5pts
5th - 22746 - Dave and Gill Simmonds - Melton Mowbray SC - 9pts
6th - 20320 - Brian Graham/Jamie Graham - Melton Mowbray SC - 10pts
7th - 20307 - Duncan Rennie/Angela Rennie - Melton Mowbray SC - 12pts
8th - 20249 - Nial Rennie / Peter Mill - Melton Mowbray SC - 14pts
9th - 19756 - Chris Myatt / Martin Wadding - Melton Mowbray SC - 15pts