Streaker Open at Broxbourne Sailing Club
by Veronica Falat 19 Sep 2017 00:19 BST
16 September 2017
The final event in the 2017 Pinnell & Bax Streaker Southern Paddle series took place at Broxbourne SC on Saturday 16th September in light and very variable wind. 12 boats took part from as far afield as Somerset and Suffolk.
In the first race Ben Harris, Peter Selway and Veronica Falat were the early leaders but Howard Frear got an overlap at the 2nd mark and took the lead along the next reaching leg. Once on the beat again Veronica managed to pick some good shifts and gradually pulled ahead leaving a tight bunch of boats to fight for second place. The breeze was very fitful and it was easy to get stuck in calm spots but eventually it was Mark Langston who finished behind Veronica with Howard in third place.
After lunch the breeze was just the same. Race 2 saw Alex Reindorp, Mark and Howard get away well. Veronica was near the back of the fleet at the first mark but gradually overtook people and on the second lap she and Alan Simmons caught a big port lift to take them to the front. From there, Veronica pulled away and Alan held off the bunch behind to finish 2nd and Alex Reindorp was 3rd.
Veronica could now afford to sit out the third and final race and so could watch from the clubhouse as a big black cloud delivered a very heavy rainstorm on the rest of the fleet. Howard Frear took the lead early on and took the win while Alex Reindorp beat Mark Langston to second place.
Overall Veronica was 1st, Howard 2nd and Alex and Mark tied on points, the 3rd place going to Alex on tie-break.
Veronica, Mark, Alex and Howard were the top 4 in the overall Southern Paddle series. During the prize-giving, the draw was held to find the winner of the Pinnell and Bax sail; every Streaker association member competing in the series gets tickets for the draw according to the number of races they sail in and this year the lucky winner was Chris Smith who finished 8th overall in the series.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 1972 | Veronica Falat | Waveney & Oulton Broad YC | 1 | 1 | (DNC 13) | 2 |
| 2 | 1777 | Howard Frear | Sutton Bingham SC | 3 | ‑7 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | 1953 | Alex Reindorp | Chipstead SC | (DNF 13) | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 4 | 1920 | Mark Langston | Beccles Amateur SC | 2 | ‑6 | 3 | 5 |
| 5 | 1700 | Alan Simmons | Lancing SC | ‑8 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 6 | 1929 | Peter Withrington | Burghfield SC | 4 | ‑9 | 4 | 8 |
| 7 | 1767 | Ben Harris | Up River SC | 6 | 4 | ‑7 | 10 |
| 8 | 1707 | Peter Selway | Broxbourne SC | 5 | ‑10 | 5 | 10 |
| 9 | 1844 | Chris Smith | Island Barn Reservoir SC | ‑10 | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| 10 | 1850 | Gerry Ledger | Up River SC | 7 | 8 | (DNF 13) | 15 |
| 11 | 1681 | Rupert Smith | Newhaven & Seaford SC | 9 | (DNF 13) | DNC 13 | 22 |
| 12 | 1940 | Doug Horner | Swanage SC | (DNF 13) | DNF 13 | DNC 13 | 26 |