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Flying Fifteen Mercedes Trophy at Datchet Water Sailing Club

by Michael Clapp 16 Apr 2018 18:23 BST 7-8 April 2018

Seven visitors from as far afield as Yorkshire, Cowes and Ireland, joined an injury depleted seven-strong local fleet at Datchet Water Sailing Club to compete for the Mercedes Trophy in the first Flying Fifteen open meeting of the year over the weekend of 7th/8th April.

The weather on Saturday was glorious (at least by comparison with recent weeks!) with wind of 10-15 knots from the south and streaky gusts giving advantage to both sides of the course at different times. Racing was tight at the top with Simon Kneller and Dave Lucas winning the first two races before being pipped in the third race by Charles Apthorp and Alan Green.

Sunday brought a glassy calm which would have yielded a great reflection of Windsor Castle if it had been visible through the mist! The Race Officer very wisely abandoned racing to allow the travellers to save a few Brownie points by returning home early after coffee and prizegiving. Overnight leaders Simon and Dave received the Mercedes Trophy for the second time while Charles and Alan were the leading Datchet boat in second place, closely followed by Brett Dingwall and Tim Scarsmark in third.

There was general agreement that Saturday's champagne conditions and racing more than made up for any disappointment on Sunday.

Overall Results:

PosSail NoHelmCrewClubR1R2R3Pts
1st4024Simon KnellerDave LucasGrafham Water11‑22
2nd3957Charles ApthorpAllan GreenDatchet Water2‑513
3rd3875Brett DingwallTim ScarsmarkAldenham SC‑4246
4th4055Ian CadwalladerEllie DevereuxChew Valley3‑436
5th4052David TabbChewey SherrellParkstone(DNC)3811
6th4041Bill ChardAmy ChardChew Valey5‑7611
7th3954John HansonHelen SeldenDatchet Water66‑712
8th3391Mark WestonAndy WeatherspoonWest Riding‑118513
9th4027Mike ClappPeter MorrisDatchet Water7(DNC)1017
10th3563Alastair StevensonJeremy ValentineDatchet Water810‑1118
11th3904Mervyn WrightHoward ShawyerDatchet Water‑99918
12th3583Mike WilczynskiJean WilczynskiRORC1011‑1221
13th3316John ChristensenJonathan BaggottDatchet Water1212‑1324
14th3888Mike FirthAllison ?Datchet Water(DNC)13DNC28

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