Hurricane 5.9SX TT circuit at Bala Catamaran Club

Hurricane 5.9SX TT circuit at Bala © John Tuckwell

Hurricane 5.9SX TT circuit at Bala © John Tuckwell

Round 3...Bala...and there be beasts at Bala

Round 3 of the Hurricane 5.9SX TT circuit was held over the May bank holiday weekend and sponsored by Towergate Marine Insurance. 3 travelling boats joined 2 local boats to contest this round, one of the visitors fresh from the win at Carsington only a few weeks before.

For the visitors how difficult could sailing at Bala be? All had been used to sailing on inland waters and Bala has been billed as the Garda of the North this should be an easy event and some expected to walk away with a result. What they had not bargained for was the complete dominance of John Tuckwell and Chelsea Furber who from the first gun and first beat showed no mercy. Of the 8 races sailed Tuckwell / Furber convincingly won the first 6 and had the event sown up by Sunday leaving the Monday to stand and watch the rest of the fleet battle it out.

The remaining fleet battle it out for the remaining places. Close racing was to be had between Pete Dimblad / Charlotte Pearson of Bala and Alex Burling / Colin Eddon of Island Sailing Club. After the 8 races it was equal points and boiled down to discards which meant that Burling / Eddon secured the second spot over Dimblad / Pearson. The remaining boats from Datchet, Nathan Jones sailed with local sailors and finished 4th with Andy Bedford, Hurricane class chairman and Paul Mackay showing a master class in capsize techniques finishing 5th.

The Hurricane TT was run in conjunction with the Bala Catamaran Open Meeting which is now in it's 37th year. To the visitors, 2 of whom had never been to Bala the event was a complete revelation. Everyone being impressed with the lasagne and beer on the Friday night they arrived and the barbeque and more beer on the Saturday night. This exceeded the hospitality experienced at other clubs this season.

The event was sponsored by insurance4dinghies and Towergate Marine Insurance, with the wine and sailing vouchers warmly received. The fleet now moves onto Rutland for the inaugural Inland Championships. It will be here the big hitters of the fleet will make and appearance and those that had been putting in the hard miles during the winter will see where they stand in the fleet. Teams from the Stone and Starcross are expected to join Datchet teams and other travellers.

Overall Results: