30th Junior 12 Hour Race at Southport Sailing Club
by Matthew Harris 2 Jul 2015 08:27 BST
27 June 2015
30th Junior 12 Hour Race at Southport SC © SSC
The long range forecasts may have been for big winds and rain but they couldn't have been more wrong. When 06:00 dawned last Saturday sunny Southport really delivered. We had glorious sun, sea (well the marine lake), sand(dunes) and some big smiles on the competitors faces. Even the wind played ball maintaining a solid 10-15 mph all day blowing pretty much straight down the lake giving a long beat reach and run to test competitors.
This year, the 30th running of the race, 24 teams turned up at Southport for the event. The teams comprised of 12 GP14s, 7 Enterprises and 5 Bosuns starting in three separate flights. We had teams of vastly different abilities from multiple race winners' right through to teams turning up for the first time. All were welcome and we look forward to seeing everyone again next year.
The racing at the front was close indeed the top two boats finished within two boat lengths of each other after a full 12 hours of racing. Sadly the biggest difference between first and second was the slight lapse in concentration that resulted in a penalty from catching a mark.
Throughout the race there was a constant buzz as team caught and passed each other with crew change overs resulting in place changes and everyone trying to make them as smooth and fast as possible.
So the race win went to Bolton Sailing Club A team in their GP14, closely followed by South Staffs Sailing Club and West Lancashire Yacht Club in third place also taking the trophy for first place under 18 team. A special mention must go to the home team (Southport SC), who finished in a very respectable 6th place. The top 10 are below and full results can be found on the club website.
On a personal note I'd like to thank all of the competitors, their parents/club race team, the massive crew of volunteers from Southport Sailing Club and our race sponsor 1stmark.co.uk Dinghy Chandlery.
Also to note is that this year was the last year that will include the Bosun dinghy. Next year the CCF units will be upgrading the Bosuns to the new Topaz Argos. Over the last decade or so the CCF units have become very much part of the 12 hour race family and so we have agreed to substitute the Argo in place of the Bosun.
Next year's race is to be Saturday the 25th June starting at 08:00. If you are interested in competing in next year's race you can sign up to the mailing list on the club website (www.southportsailingclub.org.uk) or use the contact links to email us directly.
Top ten results:
1. Bolton SC (A)
2. South Staffs SC
3. West Lancs YC (Yellow)
4. Midland SC (GP)
5. Toddbrook SC (GP)
6. Southport SC
7. Dovestone SC
8. Royal Windermere YC
9. Bolton SC (B)
10. West Lancs YC (Blue)
Lots of photos of the race can be found at www.sailpics.co.uk