Snipe Open Meeting and Junior Nationals at Bough Beech Sailing Club

Snipe Open Meeting and Junior Nationals at Bough Beech © Nicholas Wolstenholme

Snipe Open Meeting and Junior Nationals at Bough Beech © Nicholas Wolstenholme

Snipe Open Meeting and Junior Nationals at Bough Beech © Nicholas Wolstenholme

The 26th and 27th November saw 13 boats descend upon Bough Beech water for its first Snipe Open and the Snipe Junior Nationals. Upon arrival, the wind was looking dreary with the surface of the Kentish reservoir hardly being disturbed and unfortunately the wind never really delivered on Saturday, rarely allowing for both crew to be on deck for any significant period.

The first race saw the best of the days wind with a light force 2 from the North West. Will Maguire & Ellie Gibson were the dominant pair in the first race and after having a closely fought first Lap with Peter Wolstenholme and Mark Antonelli, managed to get into the lead and from then on just sailed away from the pack to take 1st followed by Peter & Mike Bryant, and Mark & Elliot Marks.

The wind dropped off for the second race although still sailable as Ian Gregory & Kate Fitzsimmonds proved by winning the race by more than a leg. Patrick Sarsfield & me had our best result of the weekend following him home to take second very closely followed by Guy Marks & Lloyd Roberts.

The third race saw a sudden 30 degree shift Northerly on the start making the first leg almost a fetch and bringing with it very shifty conditions. Patrick and me made a good start and managed to make the windward mark in 1st place closely followed by Guy. It was at this point I said to Patrick "hopefully we'll just sail away from the pack now since that's what happened in the previous races."

However maybe this was the wrong thing to say as Guy managed to get past us on the next leg closely followed by Ian at the leeward mark. Guy and Ian had a close fought battle for first in which Ian managed to pip Guy to the line showing his mastery in these conditions. We managed to come home third but a long way behind the leaders.

After the first days racing Ian was in 1st overall followed by Guy and Patrick & Myself on equal points with Mark in 4th. Patrick and me had the lead in the junior nationals beating Will and Ellie in two out of the three races so far.

That evening we went to the Bulls Head Pub in Pratts Bottom for our social along with many past fleet members and friends. The food was fantastic and there was plenty of it which along with the bar helped make it a thoroughly enjoyable evening with the last of us being turfed out at closing.

Snipe Open Meeting and Junior Nationals at Bough Beech - photo © Nicholas Wolstenholme

Day 2 again looked to be a dismal day upon arrival with very little wind stirring the chilly air, however, a nice force 2 gusting 3 blew in from the North West allowing for a good days sailing. We shared the waters on Sunday with the club racing which led to a few disputes but on the whole, the fleets kept mingling to a minimum.

The fourth race saw Sue & Steve Roberts claim first with a closely disputed 2nd eventually being won by Peter with Mark taking third. Richard & Nicky Lambert dominated the fifth race, leading comfortably from start to finish in an impressive display of boatmanship. Mark followed Peter home again for the second and third positions of the final race.

After the five races, the final results stood with Ian & Kate taking first overall followed by Peter & Mike for second and Patrick and me in third and managing to claim the Junior National title.

A huge thank you to Bough Beech for hosting the event, Peter and Sue for organising it, Barry and Simon our race officers and the rest of their team and Sue and Janice for manning the galley.

Overall Results:

Snipe Open Meeting and Junior Nationals at Bough Beech - photo © Nicholas Wolstenholme