Fireball Gul Golden Dolphin Series Round 2 at Blackwater Sailing Club
by Dave Hall 1 May 10:47 BST
28-29 April 2018
Fireball Gul Golden Dolphin Open at Blackwater © Kate Stewart
Blackwater SC hosted the second Round of the Gul Golden Dolphin series over what turned out to be a weekend when winter had returned.
Saturday brought a dull misty drab day with a light Northerly breeze which proved patchy and shifty. This along with the tide seem to have little benefit for the majority of the locals! Three races were held with results that will look puzzling to anyone reading this. Dave Hall & Paul Constable won the first race of the day after the boats around did not see the S flag and decided to carry on racing.
Sam Mettam & Tim Saunders led the second race with a huge gap only to find they were OSC allowing Derian and Andy Scott to take first place. For the final race of the day it was Mark Maskell & Nigel Sheppard who got the jump on the fleet and led to the finish. With Derian & Andy leading overnight it was the steady sailing of Kevin Hope & Russell Thorne that was to stand them in good stead for the second day.
Sunday gave a fresh cold Northerly breeze blowing straight across the estuary, good for some but a challenge for many. DJ Edwards & Vyv Townsend took an early lead only to have gear failure allowing The following bunch of Dave & Paul, Kevin & Russell and Isaac Marsh & Oliver Davenport to have a great race with Dave & Paul coming out in front to take the gun. As the breeze built for the last race DJ & Vyv made no mistakes – lead out of the start and opened up a sizable lead while the following pack raced it out.
With an impressive and pretty much the only steady score on the board, Kevin & Russell took the overall top spot without winning a race.
In the Silver fleet is was Isaac March & Oliver Davenport who steadily improved through the weekend to take top spot and in the Bronze fleet top spot was taken by Mia Walsh & Peter Bentley.
Big thanks to the club and their volunteers and of course Gul for their very generous prizes.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Fleet | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | Gold | 15133 | Kevin Hope | Russell Thorne | Notts County SC | 2 | 3 | ‑8 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| 2nd | Gold | 15122 | Dave Hall | Paul Constable | BSC | 1 | ‑11 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 14 |
| 3rd | Gold | 14941 | Derian Scott | Andy Scott | CVLSC | 3 | 1 | 5 | 8 | ‑9 | 17 |
| 4th | Gold | 15066 | Mark Maskell | Nigel Sheppard | BSC | 6 | 5 | 1 | ‑7 | 6 | 18 |
| 5th | Gold | 15124 | Peter Kyne | Tom Kyne | Brightlingsea SC | 4 | ‑9 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 19 |
| 6th | Gold | 15073 | Sam Mettam | Tim Saunders | Papercourt SC | 9 | (OCS) | 2 | 2 | 8 | 21 |
| 7th | Silver | 15070/15143 | Isaac Marsh | Oliver Davenport | Northampton SC | 13 | ‑16 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 25 |
| 8th | Gold | 15144 | D J Edwards | Vyv Townsend | Bough Beech SC | 7 | 14 | 4 | ‑16 | 1 | 26 |
| 9th | Silver | 15145 | Steve Goacher | Tom Goacher | HISC | 5 | 4 | 7 | 13 | (DNF) | 29 |
| 10th | Gold | 15107 | Richard Cornes | James Goodfellow | HISC | ‑12 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 30 |
| 11th | Silver | 15148 | Brian Sargeant | Will Sargeant | BSC | 11 | 2 | 15 | 9 | (DNF) | 37 |
| 12th | Silver | 14905 | Charlie Stewart | Malcolm Green | BSC | ‑14 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 45 |
| 13th | Bronze | 14982 | Maia Marsh | Peter Bentley | | 10 | 13 | ‑16 | 14 | 11 | 48 |
| 14th | Silver | 15102 | Martin Scarth | Rorie Ash | BSC | 8 | 8 | 17 | 17 | (DNF) | 50 |
| 15th | Silver | 14882 | Andy Taylor | Nikki Taylor | BSC | 16 | ‑17 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 50 |
| 16th | Silver | 15041 | Maria Richards | Graham Hoy | BSC | (RET) | 6 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 52 |
| 17th | Bronze | 14889 | Barney Smith | Rick Sprinen | Thornbury SC | 17 | 15 | 14 | ‑18 | 14 | 60 |
| 18th | Bronze | 14857 | George Whitchurch | Angela Docherty | BSC | 15 | 10 | 20 | (DNF) | DNC | 67 |
| 19th | Bronze | 13151 | Dan Johnson | Lyda Barber | | 19 | 18 | 11 | 19 | (DNF) | 67 |
| 20th | Bronze | 14398 | Ian Johnson | Nicky Johnson | BSC | 18 | 19 | 18 | 12 | (DNF) | 67 |
| 21st | Bronze | 15058 | Brett Townsend | Dave Nicholls | BSC | (DNF) | DNC | DNC | DNF | DNC | 88 |
