Heron Open at Huddersfield Sailing Club
by Paul Thomas 16 May 2013 17:45 BST
12 May 2013
Tony Dufton wins the Huddersfield Heron open © Paul Thomas
Whilst an unpromising forecast put some off travelling, two visitors made their way to Huddersfield Sailing Club to join five home boats for their annual Heron open meeting. Competitors were greeted with a shifty force 3 to 4 sprinkled liberally with much heavier gusts which would lead to a number of capsizes as the day progressed.
The first race was won by Tony Dufton with Roger Stephenson second, Paul Thomas third and John Dearnley fourth; all the other boats having retired including one with a broken centreboard.
Lunch was taken and from the club house it seemed that the wind had eased a little but on launching for race two it was clear that it had not. The race was won by Andrew O'Connor followed by Tony Dufton, Roger Stephenson and Paul Thomas with the other two starters sailing the wrong course.
Sailing the wrong course seemed be catching and continued into the final race which was abandoned when all the starters ended up either retiring or sailing the wrong course. So with just the first two races counting, Tony Dufton was the overall winner with Roger Stephenson second and Paul Thomas third.
Thanks go to Huddersfield Sailing Club for putting on another memorable event.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 108 | Tony Dufton | | Yeadon S.C. | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 2 | 9866 | Roger Stephenson | | Huddersfield S.C. | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 3 | 10032 | Paul Thomas | | H.D.C.A. | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 4 | 10079 | Andrew O'Connor | | Huddersfield S.C. | DNF | 1 | 9 |
| 5 | 10021 | John Dearnley | Eric Moyers | Huddersfield S.C. | 4 | DSQ | 12 |
| 6= | 10317 | Jim Robison | | Huddersfield S.C. | DNF | DSQ | 16 |
| 6= | 1712 | Allan Brooks | | Huddersfield S.C. | DNF | DNC | 16 |