Mirror Northern Travellers' Series at Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club
by Oliver Whitehead 29 Apr 2014 09:42 BST
26 April 2014
Mirror Northern Travellers at Hollingworth Lake © Bruce Mager
On Saturday 26th April it was the Mirror Northern Traveller's Open meeting @ Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club. The red sails of the Mirror dinghy's were shining brightly as the sun started to break through the clouds creating a colourful scene on the lake. The force 3-4 South Easterly wind with some large gusts made for great sailing conditions.
The fleet of 7 boats made up of 5 traveller's and 2 local boats started the days racing. At the windward mark at the top of the first beat it was the blue hull of 70756, sailed by Rachel Grayson and Gemma Francis Burnett from Beaver sc round first. Very close behind was 70806, Sarah Richards and Sandy Simpson with Ben and Gabe Hill 3rd round. With some quite strong gusts coming down the course all the boats were planing flat out with spinnakers flying. Grayson / Burnett opened up a comfortable gap over the others and held it to the finish. The Hill boys had managed to get into 2nd position overtaking Richards / Simpson with good boat handling in the increasing breeze.
After a good lunch the fleet got back onto the water for race 2 into a strengthening wind which promised to make the offwind legs fast, exciting and wet for a number of competitors. At the first windward mark three boats rounded in very close order, mirror 70525, Robert Richardson and Jamie Whiteley got round the mark first but capsized while bearing away. Grayson / Burnett and Richards / Simpson hoisted spinnakers and flew off downwind. At the gybe mark a big gust caused Grayson / Burnett to capsize too, leaving Richards / Simpson to sail into the lead. The Hills were not far behind and local sailors Craig Broadbent and Adam Din had moved into 3rd but could not hold off the challenge of the charging Grayson / Burnett who recovered to 3rd by the finish.
So going into the third and final race any one of the first three boats had a chance of winning the event overall setting up an exciting finale to a great days racing.
At the start of race 3 the wind had moderated slightly but there were still some strong gusts with the biggest wind shifts of the day. One of these shifts happened right as the start gun sounded and this allowed Richards / Simpson to neatly tack onto port and cross the whole fleet, a lead they held to round the windward mark 1st and in prime position to win the event. The Hills rounded 2nd with Grayson / Burnett a couple of boat lengths behind in 3rd. With the wind swinging Grayson / Burnett found the shortest route up the next beat to move into the lead and once at the front good boat handling on the tight reaches and boat speed on the beats made it impossible for the others to catch up and they pulled away to win the race and the event. The race for 2nd was hard fought with Richards / Simpson holding on ahead of Hill/ Hill in 3rd. Richardson / Whiteley came in 4th and clinched 4th overall, a good result after the DNF in race 2.
With fast reaches, windy beats and the forecast rain showers holding off till after the racing had finished everyone seemed to have enjoyed the day's close racing.
The top 3 boats received prizes provided kindly by Dave at Winder Boats, the winner thanked the duty team and galley team and her crew, which is always nice.
Overall Results:
1st 70756, Rachel Grayson and Gemma Francis Burnett (Beaver SC)
2nd 70806, Sarah Richards and Sandy Simpson (Beaver/ Ullswater SC)
3rd 70675, Ben Hill and Gabe Hill (West Lancs SC)
4th 70525, Robert Richardson and Jamie Whiteley (Royal Windermere YC)
5th 69334, Craig Broadbent and Adam Din (Hollingworth Lake SC)
6th 70618, George Richards and April Whiteley (Beaver/ Yorks Dales SC)
7th 69000, Will Smith and Evan Parry (Hollingworth Lake SC)