Noble Marine Supernova Travellers at Hunts Sailing Club

by Tony Bleasdale 11 May 2019 10:24 BST 20 April 2019

The thirteen Supernova helms who attended the excellent class training on the 19th were boosted up to a fleet of 19 for The Hunts SC Nobel Marine Supernova Traveller Series Open held on the 20th April. The forecast was for a shifty breeze that fluctuated throughout the day, creating some very testing conditions.

For the first race before lunch the Race Officer set out a wide ranging course taking in a good part of the lake and set 10 laps intending to shorten if the breeze proved not up to the job. It wasn't and eventually four laps were completed. Matt Biggs had got away cleanly and led from start to finish but Tony Critchley and Gavin Young were sometimes caught from behind by the chasing pack due to the unpredictable and random nature of the pressure and shifts. Eventually these two made a break and Young took second with Critchley third. Garry Butterfield came out on top of the duel with Tony Bleasdale to mark up a 4th place.

A hearty lunch was followed by two races back to back.

Race 2 and it was a similar story, Bleasdale got a great start but was soon reeled in and overtaken by Biggs, who was from then on unassailable. There were many place changes but a following pack of Butterfield, Colin Anderson, Critchley and Young broke away from the floundering main fleet. With a few legs to go Bleasdale managed to reel these in and moved into fourth with Critchley second and Butterfield third, Bleasdale then promptly lost out in the confusion of crossing the line when lapped boats were being given early finish sound signals. Those still concentrating were Critchley who held on to second, Butterfield who bagged third and Anderson regained fourth closely followed by Young in fifth.

The Race Officer decided to reset for the last race so the fleet ambled about in the fluctuating and dying breeze. Matt Biggs had his two bullets and made an early start on packing his boat away. A new shorter course was set and second and third podium places were still up for grabs for a handful of sailors. After another hour of shifty light wind and position shuffling Tony Critchley came out on top, with Garry Butterfield second and Colin Anderson third beating Gavin Young into fourth place.

Many thanks to all at Hunts Sailing Club for hosting another fantastic Class Training and Open event.

Overall Results:

Pos	Helm	Sail No	Club	HelmAgeGroup	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1st	Matt Biggs	1175	Blithfield SC	Master	1	1	(DNS)	2
2nd	Tony Critchley	1246	Bolton SC	Veteran	‑3	2	1	3
3rd	Garry Butterfield	1184	Bartley SC	Master	‑4	3	2	5
4th	Gavin Young	1192	Cotswold SC		2	‑5	4	6
5th	Colin Anderson	1036	Blithfield SC		‑6	4	3	7
6th	Tony Bleasdale	1254	Girton SC	Master	5	7	(DNF)	12
7th	Peter Housley	1099	Sutton in Ashfield SC	Master	‑7	6	7	13
8th	Dana Church	1139	Notts SC	Veteran	‑14	10	5	15
9th	Jon Pebody	1223	Hunts SC	Standard	‑10	9	6	15
10th	Nick Whiles	1130	Attenborough SC	Master	8	‑13	8	16
11th	Steve Lane	1107	Hunts SC	Master	9	8	‑10	17
12th	Serena Stewardson	1083	Emberton Park SC	Lady	‑13	11	9	20
13th	David Stephen	1180	Bartley SC	Standard	11	‑15	11.5	22.5
14th	James Adair	1227	Hykeham SC	Veteran	‑16	14	11.5	25.5
15th	Graham Sennit	1155	Hunts SC	Veteran	12	‑17	14	26
16th	Stuart Stephen	1167	Bartley SC	Veteran	‑15	12	15	27
17th	Steve Long	514	AWSC	Master	18	‑19	13	31
18th	Warren Mitchell	1255	Snettisham Beach SC	Master	17	16	(DNS)	33
19th	Ian White	707	Emberton Park SC	Master	19	18	(DNF)	37