4000 Open at Poole Yacht Club

by Neil Heffernan 29 Sep 2017 14:35 BST 23-24 September 2017

With a few regulars raving in Morocco or climbing mountains in France, attendance at the 4000 open event at Poole was a little diminished, but the racing remained as close as ever, if not tighter.

A relaxed start time of just after 2pm on Saturday saw the first two races completed in Force 3-4 and sunshine. Tim and Alex Litt took first in both races, playing the tides well. Neil and Jo took second in both, ensuring a yellow boat 1-2. John and Fran took third in both although almost let Jo and Richard (who had swapped ends of the boat for this event) past in one when they decided to stop 50m before the finish line for a sandwich.

Large quantities of prosecco, red wine and lasagne later (kindly cooked by team support Louise), Sunday dawned and John and Fran had recovered their winning form, possibly as the only team not weighed down by the excellent lasagne. They took first in the first race, and a second in the second race – Neil and Jo having managed to break their consistent second placing and sneak in front of John and Fran on the last downwind leg; fast and high paying over soaking low.

Going into the last race any of the top three boats could have won the event. In the decreasing breeze John and Fran pulled out a big lead, securing the event overall and leaving the yellow boats battling over second and third place. In the end, Neil and Jo just held Tim and Alex to secure overall second in the event (on the same points as John and Fran), with Tim and Alex only one point behind in third.

Lots of thanks to the Cherubs, who as ever made for good company on and off the race course, and to Poole YC for all the organisation. Come and join us for the last events of this season at Brightlingsea Skiff Fest (7th - 8th October) and the Inlands at Rutland the weekend after that.

More Mike Millard photos on flickr here.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts
1st	4682	John Reynolds	Fran Howell	Grafham Water SC	‑3	3	1	2	1	7
2nd	4343	Neil Heffernan	Joe Morrison	Queen Mary SC	‑2	2	2	1	2	7
3rd	4546	Tim Litt	Alex Litt	Rutland	1	1	‑3	3	3	8
4th	4572	Jo De Fiery	Richard De Fiery	Yorkshire Dales SC	‑4	4	4	4	4	16