Bewl Blaster 2018
by John Mansel 6 Mar 2018 09:16 GMT
4 March 2018
Despite the best attempts by the weather earlier in the week, the Bewl Blaster took place on Sunday 4th March, as planned. The weather was good, with all the snow having gone and a good southerly breeze. The fleet consisted of two Flying Fifteens, three Lasers and a visitor in an RS100.
Three back-to-back races were organised from the Bewl Sailing Association Racebox using a triangular course, giving a good beat across the lake and two broad reaches. Places changed several times during the races but, on handicap, the conditions seemed to favour the Lasers and RS100.
The first race was won by Matt Cox with Phil Carter in 2nd place and Martin Dennant in 3rd. Our visitor, Simon Dodds from Hythe and Saltwood Sailing Club was 4th (after a late start) followed by the 2 Flying Fifteens.
In the second race Simon Dodds improved his start and went on to take 1st place followed by the 3 Lasers and finally by the 2 Flying Fifteens.
In the final race John Wardrop withdrew due to spinnaker problems, leaving Jim Vince to carry the banner for the Flying Fifteens.
The five remaining boats had a close tussle with Matt Cox once again taking 1st place followed by Simon Dodds in 2nd place and Phil Carter in 3rd.
We weren't sure about the use of the new results software and so worked out the final placings in longhand. However, Martin Dennant thankfully came up to the racebox with his laptop and typed in the results.
We were pleased to find that he confirmed that our old fashioned method had produced the correct results (who needs modern technology!), and they are as follows:
1st Matt Cox, Laser (Bewl)
2nd Simon Dodds, RS100 (Hythe and Saltwood Sailing Club)
3rd Phil Carter, Laser (Bewl)
4th Martin Dennant, Laser (Bewl)
5th John Wardrop & Kevin Pouley, Flying Fifteeen (Bewl)
6th Jim Vince, Peter Ponsford, Flying Fifteeen (Bewl)
Many thanks to the participants and a big thank you to the volunteers who helped in the race box and with manning the support boat.
A lot of you missed a good event, and hopefully will feel inspired to join in next time. Don't forget it was free to members, there were bottles of wine as prizes and lots of cake on offer!