Shearwaters at the Grafham Water Sailing Club Cat Open
by Shaun Allen 22 Oct 2005 12:54 BST
15-16 October 2005
15 Shearwaters attended the annual end of season Grafham Cat' Open. Despite a lack of sunshine, a reliable Force 2-3 quickly dispelled any cobwebs. National Champions Daniel and Amy Tindale, sailing “Think Pink”, dominated the three races held Saturday afternoon. Despite close quarter sailing with Alan Howland and Jenny Allen on “Alley Cat’”, and Shaun and Dion Allen on “Take5”, neither could match the Tindales three bullets.
Sunday brought a little more wind, and several hangovers. The Shearwater and Hurricane fleets having partied together to the “wee small hours”. Despite the festivities nothing had diminished the Tindales performance on the race course. Strong challenges from Roger Crooks and Anna Allen on “Ruby”, and Derek Williams and Jamie Butcher on “UFO”, simply served to change the minor places. As Daniel Tindale and Alan Howland repeatedly made excellent use of wind shifts, and the regular gusts, they maintained an impressive distance from the rest of the Fleet.
An excellent weekend both on and off the water, with an excellent display of competitive sailing from the National Champions, Daniel and Amy Tindale, who won in equally impressive style.
Overall Results:
Pos | Sail No | Boat Name | Helm | Crew | Club | Pts |
1st | 1999 | Think Pink | Daniel Tindale | Amy Tindale | Stone S.C | 4 |
2nd | 2006 | Alley cat | Alan Howland | Jenny Allen | RYA | 9 |
3rd | 2005 | Take5 | Shaun Allen | Dion Allen | Felixstowe Ferry | 13 |
4th | 1996 | Ruby | Roger Crooks | Anna Allen | Stone S.C | 15 |
5th | 2004 | UFO | Derek Williams | Jamie Butcher | Stone S.C | 21 |