Comet Championships at Severn Sailing Club
by Andy Dicken 30 Jun 2012 20:32 BST
9-10 June 2012
The 2012 CCA Championships were hosted by Severn Sailing Club, Bredon’s Norton, Worcestershire. SSC sail on the River Avon, a few miles north, and upstream, of Tewkesbury (where the Avon joins the River Severn). It makes for exciting sailing, as boats are often in tight contention on the water, and rules and tactics come to the fore. The river isn’t wide enough to start more than 12 or so boats fairly though, so for the Championships, with 18 entrants, the fleet was divided at random into two flights. The flights were started five minutes apart, and on the Sunday were divided according to their positions alternately. The start times of the flights (five minutes apart) were alternated to ensure any differing wind conditions did not reflect unfairly. Overall positions were decided by times, across both flights.
Racing began on Saturday morning with the first race at 11am. In flight one, Stephen Lemmon (Littleton) dominated the race (overall 4th), with Ian Stone (Maidenhead) following consistently, and finishing just under a minute later (overall 6th). In third place (overall 7th), Peter Dalton (Frampton) came home having battled in the latter stages with Chris Robinson (Burghfield), who pulled well up the field from the start. The windy conditions made deciding on rig a question for some, and Helen Leivers (Severn) de-reefed during the race as the conditions lightened, whilst two others opted for the Xtra rig, which was to prove a slight challenge later on in the meeting.
In flight two, Dave Harris (Severn) got off to a good start, coming past the line first after the first lap, but Micheal Ettershank (Eyott) got the better of him and lead for the rest of the race, coming in eleven seconds ahead of the next helm. Harris came in second, followed by Nick Moon (Severn), who raced a solid race holding third position all the way through. The wind favoured this flight in the first race, these helms taking the top three places overall for the first race.
Race two, back to back with race one, started at 1220. In flight one, Stephen Lemmon again confidently saw off the opposition, holding the lead from start to finish (overall 1st), but this time Ian Stone in second (overall 2nd) kept the gap down to 43 seconds despite a less fortunate start, after a race where the wind had increased allowing five laps instead of three. Bob Dodds (Crawley) made third place (overall 3rd) only 9 seconds behind Stone, having lead his rival for the first two laps.
Flight two began with a general recall, after which Ettershank and Harris battled it out throughout the race, Ettershank the eventual winner (overall 4th) by five seconds. Brian Welham (Maidenhead) followed up in third (overall 11th) with clear water ahead and behind, having held his place the length of the race.
Race three began after lunch at 1430. This time in flight one, Dalton lead for the whole race (overall 1st), with a scrap behind him with S Lemmon (second, overall 3rd), Stone (third, overall 4th), Ben Palmer (Baltic Wharf) and Dodds all in contention – the latter two sharing fourth place in a dead heat. All four in the melee crossed the line within two seconds of each other!
In flight two, Ettershank lead comfortably all the way this time (overall 2nd), finishing just over a minute ahead of Clive Chapman (Shearwater, overall 7th), who was similarly ahead of third placed Harris (overall 9th). All three helms steered clear of their competitors throughout.
Race four, back to back with race three, began at 1550. In flight one, S Lemmon once again dominated all the way through (2nd overall). Dalton looked to be going well, but lost out badly half way through the race, allowing several boats past, with Robinson moving into second (3rd overall). Tristan Cooper (Tewkesbury), then moved up to third in the closing stages, moving past Dodds to claim third (4th overall).
In flight two, Ettershank lead convincingly throughout (1st overall). A stiff battle ensued between the remaining helms, with Welham moving up to second by the finish (9th overall), and Andy Dicken (Severn) carving his way up from a poor start to finish third (11th overall). Roger Lemmon (Severn) was unlucky enough during this race to get stuck on a submerged fence post (we believe), resulting in his retirement. This despite the best efforts of the club to remove flood debris (including a log the size of a small tree!), the result of the unseasonably wet weather immediately preceding the meeting.
The first three places in order from first to third overnight (assuming one discard) were: Ettershank, S Lemmon, and Stone.
Saturday night saw live music, fish and chips, and bar and barbeque to keep the helms and volunteers entertained!
Sunday saw a day of much lighter wind, and it was even suggested that postponement may be necessary to see if more of a breeze would blow up. However, racing got underway on time at 1000. Helms had been reorganised overnight into flights based on current position, the odd positions in flight one and the evens in flight two.
The start of race five for both flights was a delicate affair, with what little wind there was blowing the same direction as the current of the river. The upwind start therefore meant that helms had a hard time getting to the start, and there was even some backwards motion at times! So light was the wind that only one lap was raced. Flight one saw Robinson home first (6th overall), followed by Dodds (7th overall) and then R Lemmon (9th overall). Evidently the wind got slightly better after five minutes, the order for flight two as: S Lemmon (1st overall), Chapman (2nd overall), then Palmer (3rd overall).
Luckily the wind increased a little, and a better final race was run, although it did drop off again towards the end, which resulted in some exaggerated gaps in finish times! In flight one, Stone came in first (5th overall), followed by Ettershank (6th overall), who made a very good run up the field from the rear of the pack, then Dodds (7th overall) who had held the lead early on.
Flight two were again favoured by the wind (although they started before flight one this time), as Dalton held the lead from start to finish through the three laps, finishing over six minutes ahead (such is the trick of changing wind over a healthy current! 1st overall), with S Lemmon behind (2nd overall), and Welham in third (3rd overall).
The positions had changed throughout the field – with the overall series winner Stephen Lemmon (prior local knowledge helping here no doubt!), second place Micheal Ettershank, and third Peter Dalton.
Severn Sailing Club were very proud to host this event, and the weekend was enjoyed by all concerned, as a result of the tremendous amount of organisation by our willing and able members, Comet sailors or not!