Solo Open at Papercourt Sailing Club

Papercourt Solo Open © Mike Tozer

Papercourt's Solo Open Meeting – which was part of the Thames Valley and Southern Circuit took place on Sunday 25th Sept with 34 competitors (including 8 visitors). Bill Grose, the Race Officer, warned that any General Recalls would be followed by a Black Flag. This became true on the first attempt to start Race 1 with at least half the fleet over the line. The second attempt saw 3 competitors far too enthusiastic but the rest of the fleet started OK.

From mid-line, Fraser Hayden took the lead to the windward mark followed by Guy Mayger, Martin Frary & Tim Lewis.

At the end of the first lap Fraser still held the lead, with Martin taking 2nd place. The two of them took control from the front, with all the rest of the competitors getting used to the shifty, gusty wind.

On the final lap, Tim overtook Guy to take a well-earned 3rd place and Paul Robinson took Rob Cook for 5th

Race 2

With only 2 of the fleet OCS, the rest got away cleanly on the first attempt, however Fraser managed to get tangled up at the start and was away almost last. Martin took full advantage and roared into a lead which he was not going to relinquish. By the end of the first lap Guy was 2nd with Patrick Fell 3rd, Andrew Boyce 4th and Sam Tozer 5th.

On the last lap, Guy and Patrick dropped down the fleet while Fraser ripped from15th at the end of the first lap to finish 4th. Andrew took 2nd and Paul 3rd with Sam a consistent 5th

A super lunch (cooked by competitor Dave Mitchell) was provided from the galley for all the competitors and support crew.

Papercourt Solo Open - photo © Mike Tozer

Race 3

After his bad start in race 2, Fraser was hot off the line and sailed cleanly to take the lead closely followed by Martin, Andrew, Guy and Sam.

In the top 5 of this race, only Guy and Andrew changed places for the first 3 laps despite furious tacking and gybing duels, which looked OK for Fraser until a gear problem cost him about 30 secs. In this time his competitors showed no mercy and he dropped from 1st to 4th which he held to the end. Patrick had a great lap 3 to climb from 11th to 7th and then up to 6th on the final lap to finish just behind Sam.

Papercourt Solo Open - photo © Mike Tozer

Race 4

With a 2 1 1 score line, Martin was assured of the Open Meeting victory before the last race, but it was still all to play for, with Andrew still counting his disappointing first race 15th place.

At the end of the first lap, Simon Derham lead the field with Andrew hot on his heels, Guy in 3rd, Martin in 4th and Tim in 5th.

On the second lap, Andrew took the lead and held on for the race win. Simon held on to 2nd place with Guy and Martin following. Paul had a great last lap, pulling up from 7th to finish 5th and just as Tim looked assured for 6th, an overly early tack saw him infringe Sam and drop one place.

The usual Papercourt tea and cakes were very welcome to all the competitors after such a great day's racing. PSC Commodore, Frank Brown, presented all the Open Meeting prizes. He also presented the Thames Valley Trophy to Tim Lewis who had shown great consistency throughout the season.

Papercourt Solo Open - photo © Mike Tozer

Overall Results: