GP14 Southern Travellers Series Venetian Trophy at Welsh Harp

by Steve Cooper 4 Apr 2017 08:11 BST 1 April 2017

Fine weather at the Welsh Harp for the 2017 Venetian trophy. A 10 knot South Westerly breeze and warm sunshine.

The first race saw visiting sea sailors Andrew Clewer and Sarah Collingwood adjust well to the flat water. After an indifferent start, they took the lead from Steve Cooper and Arran Gillies on the short reach after the windward mark. The chasing boats stayed close enough to force strategic decisions throughout the race but Clewer finished in front of Cooper while Richard Ham and Steve Browne made gains on lap 3 to finish third.

The fleet returned to the clubhouse to enjoy and excellent lunch provided by WHSC volunteers. Displacing a little more water the boats headed out for the next start.

In race 2 variations in the wind favoured boats starting towards the middle, leaving those to leeward with a lot of traffic to negotiate on port tack after the necessary tack at the south shore. Andy Wadsworth and Andy Shrimpton got away cleanly but were overhauled by Ruslan Scutlenic with Jamie Isles crewing. By lap two Richard Ham and Steve Browne had hunted them down, they were relentless on the beat with their vertical rig testament to a winters work in the gym. Steve Browne then teased the best out of the breeze downwind. The wind was blowing plum down the lake and sitting through some brief spells by the lea did not result in losses to those who preferred gybing for better angles on the wind. Keith Street, in his new boat, sailed into third place with daughter Amy crewing, Scultlenic/Isles and Ham/Browne finished 2nd and 1s t respectively.

All to be decided in race 3. After two indifferent starts Ham and Browne got away cleanly and were first to the windward mark. Again, the lead boat was unable to sail away from the fleet. On the first run Chris Lomax and Dianne Marcos sailed low and led briefly after the gybe mark, by the next run Ham and Browne were back in front but once again sailed high leaving the door open for Cooper and Clewer to take advantage of a corridor of breeze along the North shore. Ham slipped round the gybe mark a boat length in front of the pursuers. On the final beat the fleet split in search of the shifts that would deliver victory. There were some forced tacks and some very nice lifts along the middle of the lake. The top order was shuffled but Ham and Browne stayed watchful and were victorious, winning the race and the event.

Alistair Lambert and Caro Mitchell grabbed an excellent second place in front of Clewer and Collingwood who were second overall, a fourth in the race was enough to secure 3rd overall for Steve Cooper and Arran Gillies. First in the Silver fleet were Andy Wadsworth and Andy Shrimpton and best in the Bronze, rounding up a good day for the Street family were Sarah and Amy's sister Lucy.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1st	14166	Richard Ham	Steve Browne	Tollesbury SC	‑3	1	1	2
2nd	14121	Andrew Clewer	Sarah Collingwood	Poole YC	1	‑4	3	4
3rd	14151	Steve Cooper	Arran Gillies	Welsh Harp SC	2	‑9	4	6
4th	13603	Alistair Lambert	Caro Mitchell	Welsh Harp SC	5	‑13	2	7
5th	13980	Roger Walton	Helen Allen	Welsh Harp SC	4	‑7	6	10
6th	13594	Ruslan Scutelnic	Jamie Isles	Welsh Harp SC	‑12	2	9	11
7th	13787	Keith Street	Amy Street	Welsh Harp SC	8	3	‑11	11
8th	13713	Chris Lomax	Dianne Marcos	Welsh Harp SC	‑7	6	5	11
9th	14014	Andy Wadsworth	Andy Shrimpton	Welsh Harp SC	6	5	‑10	11
10th	13316	James Ward	Richard Whitehill	Papercourt SC	‑10	8	7	15
11th	13853	Lesley Kaye	Lucy Barrie	Welsh Harp SC	‑11	11	8	19
12th	13870	Maciek Matyjaszczuk	Szymon Matyjaszczuk	Welsh Harp SC	9	(RET)	14	23
13th	13170	Norman Brown	Hannah Liptrot	Welsh Harp SC	‑13	12	12	24
14th	13472	Sarah Street	Lucy Street	Welsh Harp SC	14	‑16	13	27
15th	13237	Tomasz Szakola	Lydia Evans	Welsh Harp SC	(RET)	15	15	30
16th	13941	Dennis Adams	Simon Carman	Welsh Harp SC	‑17	14	17	31
17th	12289	Maurice Futerman	Micha Meyers	Welsh Harp SC	15	‑19	16	31
18th	1	Ricardo Chacon	Yasmin Hales	Welsh Harp SC	(DNC)	10	DSQ	32
19th	13919	Peter Dunton	Chris Higgs	Welsh Harp SC	16	18	‑19	34
20th	12746	Louise Hinselwood	Jenny Irwin	Welsh Harp SC	(RET)	17	18	35
21st	14134	Peter Kay	Craig Sanderson	Welsh Harp SC	(RET)	RET	RET	44