Flying Fifteen Open at Dovestone Sailing Club
by David McKee 7 Oct 2011 14:32 BST
1-2 October 2011
The Dovestone Flying Fifteen open meeting took place on the 1 & 2 October 2011 and also comprised the final event of the TNT Traveller Series.
The weather conditions were excellent, the northern parts of the country sweltering in 29 – 30 degrees heat, sunshine, blue skys and an unstable force 2 southerly breeze.
The home fleet were joined by 3 visitors, 2 from Burton Sailing Club, South Cerney Sailing Club and 1 from Datchet Sailing Club and the event was sailed on the Age Boat handicap system.
The race officer for the weekend, Phil Middleton, managed to produce 5 races over the 2 days without general recalls for an efficiently managed event.
Sailing on the Saturday enabled a large number of boats to taste positions in the top half dozen with notable showings from the Classic 2125 sailed by Gavin Cassidy and Lucy Clough. The day was clearly won by Andy Goddard sailing with Mal Hartland with two 1sts and a 3rd closely followed by visitors from Datchet John Hanson and Helen Selden. A good string of results was also achieved by Chris Swallow and Richard Nurse from Burton Sailing Club and Graham Massey and Russ Clarke from the host club were also building a good series.
After festivities at the sailing club on Saturday night Sunday resumed with similar although slightly more steady sailing conditions. Andy Goddard and Mal Hartland continued their winning ways with two firsts to win the event overall. John Hanson and Helen Seldon continued with their strong performances and the two Classics of Gavin Cassidy and Rod Rowlands produced good results with a 2nd and 3rd place each.
There was much place changing in the first five or six boats and also in the centre of the Fleet the shifty conditions proving challenging to all.
Overall Results:
1st 3959, Andy Goddard & Mal Hartland (Dovestone Sailing Club)
2nd 3539, John Hanson & Helen Seldon (Datchet Sailing Club)
3rd 2125, Gavin Cassidy & Lucy Clough (Dovestone Sailing Club)
4th 3805, Graham Massey & Russ Clark (Dovestone Sailing Club)
Silver
1st 2864, Malcolm & Elliott Hall (Burton Sailing Club)
Classic
1st 2125, Gavin Cassidy & Lucy Clough (Dovestone Sailing Club)