Solo Northern and Midland Area Open at Ogston Sailing Club

by Martin Honnor 5 Oct 2018 09:27 BST 30 September 2018

29 boats arrived to a light overcast morning with little to no wind. The forecast had predicted a North-westerly but after a quick inspection, PRO Philip Wilson and family decided a small postponement might be in order.

Following the briefing the competitors go out on the water to a light Westerly and by the time the first start got underway the PRO had seen the wind come from every compass point as well as none. Finally, the wind settled to a fluky North Westerly Force 2 with frequent 20-degree shift, and 15 knot gusts blowing through, what a fun day it would turn out to be.

Race 1 saw a 30-degree wind shift with 20 seconds to go, Innes Armstrong parked up on the pin, together with Phil Barnes, the rest of the fleet flipping on to Port for a quick sprint to the first mark, with a perfect start from Tim Hand. Local veteran Martin Honnor and Tim rounded one and two followed by a big group including new comer to the Solos, Tim Sadler. Martin extended his lead and even after Sadler's excellent 3rd beat, went on to take the first race, followed by Sadler in second and Steve Denison in 3rd place.

With Chilli and Pasta, followed by Lemon Tart awaiting the competitors, lunch was served before the fleet got back out on the water for 2 afternoon races back-2-back. The breeze had settled in as a North-westerly as forecast, but still with several big shifts. Race 2 got underway with a clean start, except the unlucky Mr Ian Hopwood, just slightly OCS. Innes was first to the windward mark, and he never looked back, going on to win comfortably. The remaining places changed regularly, with Honnor and Stephen Graham taking a bath up wind and Tim Sadler and Denison doing the same on the 2 gybe marks. Ian Ingram, having stayed upright went on to a strong 4th place, Tim Hand 2nd and Martin 3rd.

Race 3 got away cleanly, apart from Ogston Solo class captain Colin Coombs, he was OCS and upside down, and Hopwood and Brown who pulled the trigger too early again, oh dear! Innes was first to the windward mark, followed closely by Honnor and a pack of 5 of 6 boats all coming down the run on pressure. Innes squeezed round the first gybe mark and was away not to be seen again, finishing a strong first. Philip Barnes gybes his way in to 2nd and didn't look back followed by Ian Ingram for a 3rd.

Overall finish positions were Innes Armstrong, Martin Honnor second and Ian Ingram third. In addition to the Ogston Open results, there were results for the popular Midland/Northern Mini Series, a combination of results from the second day at Carsington earlier in the year, Notts County last month and Ogston today. Overall winner was Chris Brown from Draycote Water SC, second went to Marin Honnor, Ogston SC and 3rd to Philip Barnes from Budworth SC.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club
1st	5813	Innes Armstrong	Burwain SC
2nd	5658	Martin Honnor	Ogston SC
3rd	5695	Ian Ingram	Earlswood Lakes
4th	5763	Steve Denison	RYA
5th	5738	Tim Hand	Swarkstone SC
6th	5685	Philip Barnes	Budworth SC
7th	5766	Tim Sadler	Yorkshire Dales
8th	5794	Alistair Banks	West Riding SC
9th	5777	Chris Brown	Draycote SC
10th	5655	John Webster	Carsington SC
11th	5782	Nigel Davies	Draycote SC
12th	5176	Jonathan Woodward	South Staffs
13th	5318	Bob Suggitt	Barnt Green
14th	5745	Andy Fox	Leigh & Lowton SC
15th	5016	Ted Garner	Budworth SC
16th	5480	Malcolm Hall	Carsington SC
17th	5006	Martin Bradley	Ogston SC
18th	4834	Jonathan Chapman	Ogston SC
19th	5501	Nick Patrick	Ogston SC
20th	5645	Ian Hopwood	Nantwich SC
21st	5081	John Mann	Ogston SC
22nd	5741	Stephen Graham	Burwain SC
23rd	4528	Adam Hague	Ogston SC
24th	5163	Ken MacKenzie	Ogston SC
25th	5015	Dave Basford	Ogston SC
26th	4938	Paula Tyers	Ogston SC
27th	3606	Chris Bridge	Ogston SC
28th	5565	Colin Coombs	Ogston SC
29th	3066	John Swain	Ogston SC