Access Class TT at Frensham Pond Sailing Club
by James Morley 18 Oct 2013 13:02 BST
Access Class National Traveller Series Finals at Frensham Pond © Tony Machen
Final event in the 2013 National Access Traveller series and the Southern TT Series was run by Frensham Pond Sailability at Frensham Pond Sailing club on Wednesday 16th October.
A national travelling series of twelve events and forty eight races is as gruelling a sailing series as one is likely to encounter.
Frensham, the home of a strong Access class fleet, welcomed visitors from Rutland, New Forest, Whitefriars, Oxford, as well as Tideway SC from London docklands. This day would settle who had won the National TT trophy, individual honours and the Southern area TT trophy.
By the end of the day the home club had secured their position as the best travelling disabled sailing team in the UK and almost certainly in Europe. Theirs was an all Sailability team with members having a recognised disability. The Frensham home team won three of the four Access designs on the water with Whitefriars's David Durston taking the single-handed Access Liberty.
Conditions afloat morning and afternoon were a surprise. Intense rain and an Easterly breeze dominated the morning. In the afternoon the wind swung Westerly and the rain gave way to warm sunshine. This greatly cheered all the contestants. Lindsay Burns, Frensham's European and UK champion took the Access 2.3 series with three straight wins. She was given a good contest by second place Chris Hole from Rutland SC.
The larger Access 303 Frensham had another good win with Tessa Watkiss taking three first places and one second while Frensham sailors: Paul Phillips, James Woosnam, and Monique Foster took the next three places.
In a days racing where the results of several fleets could only be decided on countback, in the largest of the Access range, the Liberty class, Whitefriar's David Durston took line honours with New Forest's sailors Tom Harper and Vince Barton taking second and third.
The double hander 303 produced a tied result between Rutland's Chris Emmett and Malcom Kirk and Frensham's Peter and Peta Etherton, Frensham's Andy and Ced Sheaf took third, New Forest's Steven Kidson and XavierChampeau forth, with London Tideway pair Leslie Philip and Hugh Landsdowne fifth.
Off the water competitors and helpers were able to indulge in a wonderful lunch as well as the famous Frensham free tea. The prizegiving was a clean sweep for the home club who took the day, plus the Southern Area and finally the UK national Ben Ainslie Team Trophy for the sixth time.
2013 Southern TT Series Winners
Access 2.3 class: Lindsay Burns, Frensham Pond
Access 303 One Person Class: Tessa Watkiss, Frensham Pond
Access 303 Two Person Class: Peter and Peta Etherton, Frensham Pond
Access Liberty Class: David Durston, Whitefriars
2013 National TT Series Winners
Access 2.3 class: Lindsay Burns, Frensham Pond
Access 303 One Person Class: Tessa Watkiss, Frensham Pond
Access 303 Two Person Class: Peter and Peta Etherton, Frensham Pond
Access Liberty Class: David Durston, Whitefriars
"Ben Ainslie" Access Team Trophy
Frensham Pond Team - Lindsay Burns, Tessa Watkiss, Paul Philips
Full results can be found at www.accessclass.org.uk