Alton Water 2018 Fox's Chandlery Frostbite Series - Day 8

Racing towards the dam for a change on day 8 of the Alton Water Frostbite Series © Tim Bees

'Turned out nice again then', one Phantom sailor was heard to say as he arrived for the penultimate day of this nine-week series. He was right in that it was sunny, but with a 15kn+ easterly breeze as the support act for The Beast from the East which was to hit later and a 'feels like' temperature of minus eight, he was to be admired for his positivity.

The intention was to run two races with as fast a turnaround between them as possible and to have sailors ashore before The Beast made its presence known. There was a change of scenery for sailors and the Committee Boat crew as, not having had this wind direction so far this series, the course included a long beat from Cambridgeshire to Holland, or it probably felt like it for those sailors who capsized in one of the substantial gusty shifts. Another shorter beat plus a reach and a run gave some legs with great speed potential, whereas others closer to shore required more tactical brain power.

There were no general recalls this week with sailors wanting to spend as little time getting chilled waiting for their start as possible. Most people stayed out for the second race but the Race Officer decided two laps was enough for everyone and his feet were starting to get cold.

With another discard coming in to play, there are changes at the top of three of the five fleets and with one more week and the final discard to come in, there is still all to play for. Here is the lowdown;

Fast fleet

Ben Clegg and Pete Nicholson have taken the lead from Matthew House in his Phantom but there are only three points between them.

Asymmetrics

Stephen Videlo and Chris Videlo have consistently retained the lead in their RS200 throughout the series with nine points separating them from David Conlon and Sarah Bines and Stephen and Chris also lead the series as a whole. The battle for third place could be interesting however, as the two boats currently in 3rd and 4th have had enough of the British winter and gone to Australia for the 18 foot skiff world championship, so will miss the last week. Twenty one RS200s have competed in this series, experiencing some exciting, close racing and their asymmetrics providing some colour for the spectators on grey days.

The ever-competitive RS200s on day 8 of the Alton Water Frostbite Series - photo © Tim Bees

Lasers

Rheanna Pavey has taken the lead back from Graham Ireland who has been pushed into third place by Benjamin Reason, today's breeze being good for the Radials. However, only one point separates Benjamin and Graham and there are two others close behind.

Close racing in the Laser fleet on day 8 of the Alton Water Frostbite Series - photo © Emer Berry

Medium

Robert Deaves in his Finn is the other sailor who retains the lead in their fleet and he is five points clear of Cara Bland and Faye Chatterton in their 420, but Matthew Taylor in his RS Aero 5 is only one point behind them.

Slow

Hazel Whittle and Gwen Thorogood in their Cadet have taken the lead from Jack Oakley in his RS Tera Pro but only by two points.

A good number of Cadets on day 8 of the Alton Water Frostbite Series - photo © Tim Bees

The real winner of the series may be the weather, as with sub-zero temperatures all week and the substantial amount of snow we have had in Suffolk, there is a chance that the reservoir will freeze over. Hopefully the strong winds forecast for the end of the week will help to stop the ice from forming. Any updates necessary will be posted on the Alton Water website.

Series Leaders: (after 16 races and 5 discards)

Day 8 Provisional Results: (top 3 positions)

Full results can be found here and photos on the Alton Water Sailing facebook page and Tim Bees' photos on flickr here.