Challenger Welsh Championships at Llyn Brenig Sailing Club
by Richard Johnson 27 Jul 2013 14:40 BST
20-21 July 2013
Saturday 20th July 2013 was warm with a moderate Southerly wind at Llyn Brenig Sailing club. Traditionally, the racing at Brenig is run from the pontoon, which faces Northeast, so today the line was heavily biased to Starboard, but because the wind comes around a corner, it isn't necessarily clever to start at the "Committee Boat" (pontoon) end, as you would in open water.
The fleet were bunched together, around the middle of the line, for Start One. Graham Hall sailed on towards the middle of the lake but Val Millward tacked early, following the shore around the corner. At the end of lap 1 Graham was just ahead and he maintained the lead to win race 1. The small fleet spread out across the vast lake, with only Val and Graham racing together. Perhaps it was caused by Diana's boat having the wrong sail (stupid loaders!), Peter going sea fishing all year and this was his first sail (so much to do...so little time!) and Christine having her first Challenger regatta ever (so many ropes...so little practice).
The lead was reversed in race 2, with Val winning comfortably, and she won again in Race 3, despite Graham trying to manoeuvre her into a trap and wipe her off against the pontoon but Val is too cunning, diving down his left side, starting with more speed but then falling into a hole and dropping to fourth. Brenig is a great place for racing because wind shifts and shadows mean it's never over until the end. When they came back around the corner it was Val leading to win the race and be one point ahead overnight.
Sunday was similar but Val's special brew wine must have taken its toll because Graham won both races to equalise points and, with one more win, take the Championship. In Silver, Christine scored a third in Race 4, which gave her the tie break and the "Silver Champ" title over Peter.
Val was awarded the Prentice Bowl, which is based on a vote by the competitors and is for the person making the greatest contribution to the event. Val not only towed Christine's boat from Rutland but helped make extensive upgrades to Peter's Brenig boat so that it was close to top racing specification with efficient controls.