NeilPryde Mirror open meeting at Dee Sailing Club
by Jon Hayley 25 Jul 2015 12:01 BST
18-19 July 2015
Nine boats took part in a six race event over the weekend of Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th July with travellers and local boats coming together on the Dee Estuary on Wirral, with one family from as far as Scotland.
Saturday had been forecast for sunshine with a fresh breeze from WSW. The forecast was true and the race briefing was held in glorious sunshine that showed Dee SC and the views over the estuary to North Wales at their best.
In race 1 17+ knots of wind over the incoming tide made for some big waves and a gruelling beat upwind so Race Officer (and Commodore!) Simon Moruzzi decided to shorten course and finish after the 2nd of 3 laps. First place was taken by Robert Richardson and Sandy Simpson of Royal Windermere YC and Ullswater YC.
By the end of race 1 the wind and waves had continued to build even further and so the Race Officer decided it prudent to return everyone to the beach which signalled the end of racing for day 1.
Sunday had been forecast for similar conditions but, with the wind now coming from the NW and with the tide, racing was able to start on time. Towards the end of race 2 the big waves returned and there was a huge sigh of relief from each set of aching limbs as they crossed the finish line at the end of race 3. Robert and Sandy took first place in all 3 of Sunday's races and secured an overall first for the weekend.
As ever at Dee recognition is given across the fleet, and both the first place gaff rig and single hander prizes were won by Dee's own Jonathan Waddington.
There were also some very strong performances from Dee's up and coming juniors who revelled in the extremely tough and physical conditions that were great practice for the Nationals in August at SCYC.
Overall a great weekend of competitive racing was enjoyed by the whole fleet with 2 fantastic post race BBQ's in glorious sunshine and a guest performance by Dee SC junior and local rock star band the Local Distance!
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat | Helm & Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 70806 ‑ Mischief | Robert Richardson & Sandy Simpson | Royal Windermere YC & Ullswater YC | ‑1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | 70757 ‑ Maverick | Jon Hayley & G Colquitt | Dee SC | 2 | 2 | ‑3 | 3 | 7 |
| 3 | 70862 | Megan Thornley & T Hayley | Ullswater YC & Dee SC | (DNF) | 5 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| 4 | 70861 | J & M Waddington | Dee SC | 3 | 3 | 4 | (DNF) | 10 |
| 5 | 50793 ‑ Showaaddywaddy | Jonathan Waddington | Dee SC | 5 | ‑7 | 5 | 4 | 14 |
| 6 | 65997 ‑ Crafty Fox | L & L Matthews | Dee SC | 4 | 6 | (DNC) | DNC | 20 |
| 7 | 70567 ‑ Deal With It | Faye Caswell & Douglas Simpson | Ullswater YC | (DNF) | 4 | DNF | DNC | 24 |
| 8 | 24833 ‑ Deepends | P Oliver & N Jenkinson | Dee SC | (DNC) | 8 | 6 | DNC | 24 |
| 9 | 67994 ‑ Jacsm | M Freely | Dee SC | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | |