Sir Charles Barratt Memorial Trophy Pursuit Race at Draycote Water Sailing Club
by Ian Macwhinnie 29 May 2019 15:21 BST
27 May 2019
Breezy conditions made for a lively and exciting bank holiday pursuit race at Draycote Water SC as 37 boats set out in pursuit of the Sir Charles Barratt Memorial Trophy. With winds averaging 15 knots and strong gusts, there were many capsizes on a course with long reaches suiting catamarans and spinnaker boats. The sudden gusts and a squall that went through towards the end of the race put paid to the ambitions of 15 boats, leaving only 22 to finish.
The winning boat was a Sprint 15 sailed by Ed Tuite-Dalton, who also won the event in 2013, followed by Mike Deane and Paul Disney in a Fireball, with Richard Pye in third place in an Aero 7.
Two places behind in 5th place was First Junior, Harrison Pye, in an Aero 5. Three weeks short of his 18th birthday and the end of his "junior" days, he generously donated his prize of a substantial quantity of chocolate to the other Juniors in Toppers and a Tera who had braced the conditions.
The race is held in honour of Sir Charles Barratt who was the driving force and founder of the Club and ensured it was established even before there was enough water to sail in, by which time the Club had already attracted more than a thousand members. Tragically, Sir Charles did not live to see the formal opening of the clubhouse, dying less than two years after the founding of the club fifty years ago.
The next event in the Club calendar as part of its 50th year celebration is the Midlands Champion Race on Saturday 22nd June, and we are calling on sailors from all over the region to come and help us celebrate the occasion in style (free entry to race).
A 150 boat limit has been set so enter now to be sure not to miss out on a great day of racing with evening entertainment. Details on the club website.
DWSC holds pursuit races on Monday bank holidays through the year (except August). The next in the 2019 series will be on 26th December.
All Bank Holiday Pursuit Races are open to visitors from other clubs and, for an entry fee of just £10, visiting boats will have the opportunity to take part in the 100-minute race (datum 11am) as well as have full use of the water for the whole day. They can qualify for the series prizes alongside Draycote members as well as compete for prizes for each individual Pursuit Race.
49ers, 49erFXs, Cherubs, Dart 18s, International 14s, International Moths, RS800s, RS900s and Shadow Xs can enter, but no other boats longer than 7 metres and / or using hydrofoils and / or with twin trapezes and / or with a PY / Great Lakes / Provisional handicap lower than 800. Multihulls can enter if their hulls and permanent appendages when rigged for sailing do not exceed 5.5 metres in length and 2.5 metres in width. No craft powered by airborne kites can enter.
For more information, please visit draycotewater.co.uk/pursuit-racing or contact 01788 811153.