Comet Open Meeting at Up River Yacht Club
by Michael Ettershank 18 Jul 2014 10:55 BST
13 July 2014
Comet Open Meeting at Up River Yacht Club in 2014 © Anita Ettershank
At the start of the day 7 visitors joined the single local Comet to race in the tidal waters of the River Crouch at Up River Yacht Club in a gentle force 2 breeze.
At the start of the first race at least three boats where nearly over the start line due to the following incoming and over eager helms. After the opening beat the fleet was relatively tight but Michael Ettershank sailed away on the first run as the other boats covered each other or didn't stay out of the tide.
At the end of the first lap Eddie Pope was in second, but after a few more laps John Coppenhall had showed off his previous experience of racing on this stretch of water by coming second while Chris Robinson took third.
Race 2 started in lighter conditions then the first race. Michael, Eddie and Chris built a reasonable lead only to see most of it disappear on the first run as the wind filled in from behind. As the lead boats rounded the bottom mark the OOD shortened the course to contain just one more beat to the finish line.
Eddie appeared to have a good enough lead at this point but suddenly slowed, probably due to the unusual large amount of seaweed floating in the river. This allowed the rest of the fleet to catch back up, with Michael stealing the win and Chris Robinson slipping into second, leaving Eddie in third.
After a short, but very tasty, tea and cake break the OOD pushed the competitors back out on the water for the third race before it disappeared out to the North Sea again. This proved to be wise as the out going tide was already strong and difficult to sail against in places in the light winds. In the opening beat of this race Michael, Eddie and John pulled out a lead by short tacking along the north bank of the river.
After a while Michael risked the other bank of the river in a failed attempt to find clearer wind. Eddie's attempt to cover this resulted in John developing a large lead helping him to win the race. Eddie came in second, with Michael third and John Sturgeon a close fourth.
With the racing finished the fleet finally relaxed with a late lunch served up by the volunteers in the galley.
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Overall Results:
| Pos | Helm | Sail No | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Points |
|---|
| 1 | Michael Ettershank | 84 | Up River | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| 2 | John Coppenhall | 532 | Hunts | 2 | 7 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Eddie Pope | 804 | Ogston | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 4 | Chris Robinson | 867 | Burgfield | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| 5 | Henry Jaggers | 800 | Beer | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| 6 | John Sturgoen | 400 | Hawley Lake | 6 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 7 | Brian Welham | 711 | Hunts | 7 | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| 8 | Grace Caton | 759 | | 8 | 8 | 8 | 16 |