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Barton Marine 2019 728x90

Byte Inland Championship at Bowmoor Sailing Club

by Rick W Whitehouse 2 Oct 2018 11:39 BST 29-30 September 2018
Byte Inlands at Bowmoor © David Fewings

Saturday started cold (close to freezing), cloudless and windless. The first race, due to start at 12:30 was postponed until 2:30pm, when a rather fickle south westerly developed.

Only two of the planned four races were completed on day one of the event. Unusually for a Byte event, race one started with a general recall. On the restart Matt Banbrook took a flying lead by a considerable margin initially but got stuck in a hole on the run. The current national champion, Emma Pearson, closed on him, followed by Rick Whitehouse who had pulled up through the fleet from (his usual) poor start. A three-way battle for the lead ensued, with Rick eventually successful, Emma second and Matt third. Unfortunately for Matt, a pre-existing injury prevented his participation in the rest of the event.

Byte Inlands at Bowmoor - photo © David Fewings
Byte Inlands at Bowmoor - photo © David Fewings

With Matt indisposed, Emma took a flying start in race two, only for Rick to again pull through the fleet and end up first. Rick's technique of starting poorly but sailing in clear air and tacking on shifts that eluded all the other competitors paid dividends.

Sunday racing started early, just after 10am, to get three races in before club sailing started in the afternoon. Race three saw Rick make his poorest start of the event, unrecoverable despite his best efforts, whilst local sailor, Charlotte Hitchmough, led from start to finish, closely followed by Emma, then Zoe Bazen. Race four saw Emma and Rick alternate first and second place for two laps, with Rick rounding the last mark first and inexplicably being overtaken to looward by Emma. The fifth and final race then became a decider between Rick and Emma, with another local, Huw Nunn having his best race and finishing third. Rick stayed ahead of Emma up the final beat to clinch the race and the event.

Byte Inlands at Bowmoor - photo © David Fewings
Byte Inlands at Bowmoor - photo © David Fewings

Special prizes for Alex Horsman who started in a classic rig but changed to a borrowed CII, Toby Banbrook for first CI, Zoe Bazen for first youth, Matthew Bonner for first junior and Victoria Theaker for best newcomer.

Thanks go to John Banbrook and Bowmoor SC for hosting the event.

Overall Results:

PosClassSail NoHelmClubR1R2R3R4R5Pts
1stBYTE CII3693Rick WhitehouseCombs SC11‑5215
2ndBYTE CII3078Emma PearsonWeston SC‑222127
3rdBYTE CII3616Charlotte HitchmoughBowmoor SC631‑8717
4thBYTE CII3588Zoe BazenBowmoor SC4536‑818
5thBYTE CII3606Huw NunnBowmoor SC56‑75319
6thBYTE CII3577Rachel MackinderNetley SC‑9783422
7thBYTE CII3613Lucy HaydonBowmoor SC8‑944622
8thBYTE CII3608Stu MooreNetley SC74‑97523
9thBYTE CII2957Teresa DoranBowmoor‑1110691136
10thBYTE CII3132Callum CombeBowmoor SC‑201511121048
11thBYTE CII428Victoria TheakerCombs SC12‑1614111249
12thBYTE CII3565Clare MachWeston SC13131213‑1751
13thByte CII2950Kirsten GlenParkstone YC(DNC)DNC1010952
14thBYTE CI3684Toby BanbrookBowmoor SC151113‑161453
15thBYTE CII3130Jamie FewingsBowmoor SC1014‑17171354
16thBYTE CII493Julius MachNetley SC1781618‑1959
17thBYTE CII2943Isaac PyleeBowmoor SC14‑1715151559
18thBYTE CII1640Rhys WalkerBowmoor SC19(DNS)19141668
19thBYTE CII3584Matthew BanbrookBowmoor SC3(DNS)DNCDNCDNC72
20thBYTE CII1241Matthew BonnerHimley Hall181818‑191872
21stBYTE CII3583Flavia TrittoBowmoor SC1612(DNC)DNCDNC74
22ndBYTE Classic1625Alex HorsmanWest Riding SC‑211920202079

Byte Inlands at Bowmoor - photo © David Fewings
Byte Inlands at Bowmoor - photo © David Fewings

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