One Metre Icicle Trophy at Coalhouse Fort Model Boat Club

Icicle Trophy at Coalhouse Fort MBC © Dave Sellens

Icicle Trophy at Coalhouse Fort MBC © Dave Sellens

The annual icicle Trophy was hosted by Coalhouse Fort MBC on Sunday 4th December 2016, which was a beautiful sunny day with a good wind initially from the NE but veering to ENE and increasing in strength through the day.

with the wind direction almost directly across the lake, the job of setting a fair course was a challenge for Race Officer, Geoff Appleton. But after several discussions a course was agreed as shown in the attached picture. The start being between marks 1 and 2; mark 3 on port; mark 4 on starboard; mark 5 on starboard; back to mark 1 on port; 3 on port; 4 on starboard and finish between 6 and 11. This course also provided a challenge to the skippers but appeared to satisfy the majority.

Thirteen intrepid skippers eventually started the day following the withdrawal of one because of ill health. However, this soon dropped to 12 when David Hope had winch problems during the second race forcing him to retire. It soon became apparent after the first few races that the top places were going to competed between Colin Goodman and Trevor Binks. Whilst Trevor had a bad start he very soon recovered to continually challenge Colin throughout the day but only twice was able to outdo Colin.

The next few places were closely fought between Mark Dennis, Barry Raven, David Allinson, Vernon Appleton and Graham Bartholomew. As the day moved on Vernon and Graham dropped away from the challenge because Vernon had several bad races and Graham suffered a broken shroud which he was unable to repair satisfactorily forcing him to retire. This left the other three skippers to then fight for the lower places, with Mark's greater consistency proving vital.

Icicle Trophy at Coalhouse Fort MBC - photo © Dave Sellens

As previously reported, the wind increased in strength as the day went on, which was demonstrated by various skippers nose diving at times including unusually Colin Goodman!! Despite this, everybody stayed on No.1 sails and handled the conditions extremely well, with all penalties being taken on the water – well done skippers.

At the end of the day, it was a well deserved win by Colin Goodman on 15 points, with Trevor Binks second on 32 points and Mark Dennis third on 64 points.

Our thanks to all skippers for their behaviour and a special thanks to the Coalhouse Fort MBC Race Team, of, Geoff Appleton; Malcolm Schaffer; John Lambert; Dave Sellens and John Newton. A great days racing enjoyed by all despite the cold.

Overall Results: