Contender Open at Poole Yacht Club

Everything was in place for a Joint Osprey and Contender open meeting over the weekend of 18/19 May 2019 and then climate change or something equally blame-worthy resulted in a weekend of light winds.

With such a forecast it was hugely impressive that 18 Contenders had traveled to Poole for an 1100 briefing and immediate postponement. Industrial-scale sail measuring commenced, boat tinkering was conducted and finally with hardly a hint of breeze the racing for the day was cancelled and to get a good chance of some racing the first start for Sunday was advanced to 0930. However by mid afternoon the best wind of the day kicked in from the south west under a dark cloud and mysteriously remained well that wasn't forecast!

Sunday dawned looking similar to Saturday but with 3-5 knots of breeze in the top triangle. It is fair to say that enthusiasm was not high but by 0945 a course was set, ten boats got to the line on time and the wind was sufficiently stable to offer a fair but low wind speed race.

The first decision for race one in a Northerly air flow and hint of a flood tide was the route to the windward mark. Rob Smith and Stuart Jones made the best of the breeze and shifts and held these initial positions throughout a relatively short but tricky race. Richards Franks and Chris Howe closed up well on the final round finishing in third and fourth.

The next race, started by 13 boats, was held in similar wind conditions and a slack tide but with some bigger shifts coming into play. Pete Dives and Stuart got away well with Dave Evans and Mike Murley-Hughes having a close race. The wind swung to the east making the second beat almost a fetch and the run a reach. Positions looked fixed until Petes well deserved win became a second place after a mix up at the final mark.

The final race got away at the start of the Ebb tide and wind moving more to the North East and fading. The Ospreys 5 minutes ahead rounded the windward mark and found progress against the tide hard work. The race was abandoned as the breeze faded to the lightest of breeze. Within half an hour the wind had swung to the South west and slightly increased but the chance of any more racing was gone.

With both races to count Stuart was the clear winner and with Rob in second place. Mike, Dave and Chris all had 9 points. Mike claimed the third place overall having finished third in the second race.

Contender fleet blessed/tormented with light winds at Poole - photo © Mike Millard

Overall Results:

Contender fleet blessed/tormented with light winds at Poole - photo © Mike Millard