Alton Water 2019 Fox's Chandlery Frostbite Series - Week 3

by Jenny Pavey 25 Jan 2019 11:13 GMT 20 January 2019

We could say what a difference a week makes again in this roller-coaster series of extremes! Week three dawned cold and brighter, with very little breeze from the north and an expectation that it would veer north-east that didn't materialise.

Fifty-four boats took to the water but with a smaller fast fleet but expanded slow fleet from the previous week's much windier conditions. Many of the sailors might have appreciated some of the gusts they experienced in races 3 and 4 but at least the very light wind slowed their approach to the start line, meaning there were no general recalls this week, though some who weren't on the ball with the flags and hoots during the start sequences or were catching up on the gossip under-estimated how long it might take them to get to the start. The newly-decorated more visible pin-end buoy, may have helped as well.

There was just enough wind for a second, shorter race before the wind died. The wind strength has been so varied in this series to date that some competitors have multiple entries and are changing boat or rig according to the conditions, knowing it means that they won't be in the prizes at the end, while others are choosing to 'grin and bear it' in the hope that at least some of the races will be to their liking.

Conditions were certainly good for our regular photographer, Tim Bees, to get some excellent shots from his drone.

There is close competition at the top of most of the fleets after six races, with a tie at the top of the Laser fleet and the Fast, Asymmetric and Medium fleet all seeing the series leaders only one point ahead of the second-placed boat, while in the Slow fleet the series leader has a three-point lead. With twelve races still to sail and six discards out of eighteen races, there is much still to play for.

Tim Bees' photos can be seen here and there are more photos on the Alton Water Sailing facebook page.

Race and series results to date can be found here.

Week 3 Highlight Results:

Helm/Crew	Boat	Club	R5	R6
Fast
Matt House	Phantom	Alton Water SC	1	1
Robert Ford	RS300	Alton Water SC	2	2
Asym
Stephen Videlo/Ethan Davey	RS200	Waldringfield SC	1	1
Dave Conlon/Sarah Bines	RS200	Brightlingsea SC	2	2
Ian Videlo/Alyson Videlo	RS200	Waldringfield SC	4	3
Laser
Cameron Harris	Standard	Orwell YC	1	2
James Deaton	Standard	Royal Harwich SC	2	4
Harry Wallhead	Standard	Alton Water SC	8	1
Mark Schofield	Standard	Alton Water SC	4	5
Graham Ireland	Standard	Royal Harwich SC	3	6
Medium
Robin Page	Solo	Brightlingsea SC	1	3
Gavin Johnson	K1	Alton Water SC	4	2
Ben Powell	RS Aero 7	Alton Water SC	7	1
Paul Aldridge	Solo	Brightlingsea SC	2	6
Slow
Charlotte Leigh/Tom Krailing	Cadet	Waldringfield SC	1	2
Felix Powell	RS Tera Pro	Alton Water SC	2	4
Imogen Palmer	RS Tera Pro	Alton Water SC	5	3
Isobel Stewart/Chloe Morgan	Cadet	Waldringfield SC	3	5
Alissa Marshall/Jonja Marshall	RS Feva XL	Alton Water SC	8	1

Series Leaders: (after six races)

Class	Helm/Crew	Boat	Club
Fast	Matt House	Phantom	Alton Water SC
Asymmetric	Stephen Videlo/Ethan Davey	RS200	Waldringfield
Laser =	Cameron Harris	Standard	Orwell YC
Laser =	Harry Wallhead	Standard	Alton Water SC
Medium	Adrian Pells	Finn	Harwich Town
Slow	Felix Powell	RS Tera Pro	Alton Water SC