4000 UK Series at Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club
by Richard de Fleury 3 Jun 2016 18:49 BST
28-29 May 2016
Last weekend saw the 4000 fleet head north to Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club. Much to some peoples' surprise, we were greeted with a reasonably warm, sunny day with only a light breeze. As everyone rigged up, we were delighted to be joined by the home club Commodore, Erica, and her crew, Ian.
Racing got off to a fine start and all crews on the water seemed closely matched. However, the conditions meant that a game of snakes and ladders was afoot and being on the right wind shift could be the difference between leading the field or following behind. Of course, falling out of the boat doesn't help, especially when Tim choose to rescue his hat rather than get back in the boat. At least young Alex was able to sail back for his dad, hat and all. As the day continued, the wind picked up for a short time, which gave Dave and Matt an opportunity to blast their way up the field. However, it wasn't to last. Everybody seemed to have their good moments but both crews of Steve and Sarah and Fran and John had impressively navigated around the lake to be placed first and second by the end of day one. Though, it was all to play for with an uncertain forecast for the Sunday.
As we began the racing of day two, all the crews were thankful that there was enough wind to get them out on the trapeze. Even better was that the weather Gods were kind enough to allow us some sunshine to match the beautiful surroundings. The competitiveness of all the sailors picked up where it left off the previous day. All the races included close contests and a number of duels for position throughout the fleet.
As the hooter sounded for the final race, the results saw Steve and Sarah Cockerill leading the field, closely followed by Fran Howell and John Reynolds. Tim and Alex Litt ended the weekend in third ahead of Richard and Jo de Fleury by one point.