Solo Open at Chipstead Sailing Club

by Dave Rudman 19 Jun 2019 16:05 BST 15 June 2019

With a SSW wind blowing 10 gusting 15, 18 sailors including 16 home boats took on Chipstead's Solo open - the first Solo open at the club in the summer for many years, in the hope the weather would be kind...

Race Officer Guy Wilkins started off the day setting a figure of eight course encompassing the majority of the lake.

Race 1 got off to a great start, Alistair Roaf sailing with his Edge composite sail was first to the windward mark and never looked back, though Class captain Dave Rudman kept hunting him down (also with an Edge sail) for the first two laps. The race wasn't without without incidents though, Richard Ball almost lost his tiller on the first lap and dropped back several places as a result having also broken his in-haul. John Reed (HD Gold) picked up the pace to chase Alistair down to take second, followed by Mick Kostiw (North) in 3rd. So 1 - 0 Alistair.

Race 2 soon got under way and everyone was starting to find their feet. John (ex Chipstead member) started to pull away from the fleet and took a quick command. Many boats favored the north shore and some favored beating up towards the middle of the lake... those who did found the lifts and started to pull away from the chasing pack. So Alistair 1 - John 1.

Race 3 kicked off straight after lunch and as the clouds built the wind fluctuated alot and started to swing more southerly..... which if you know Chipstead always makes for an interesting race. An interesting start as the pin end proved the right end as everyone held back to avoid a recall. With strong gusty patches, you had to keep your wits about you. With a couple of crash tacks, our first capsize of the day went to James Hart, who went on to take the wooden spoon for capsizing the most... Richard, now with a fixed boat kept John on his toes, but victory for Race 3 was John's - Alistair 1 - John 2

Race 4 saw the only general recall of the day, though Alistair admitted at the end of the race, "holding onto ones tiller just before the start would have perhaps been a more sensible thing to do, but it made for an interesting start" summed up his final race of the day. With rain threatening and constant wind changes there was only one man to show the way - Congratulations to John Reed for wrapping up 1st on the last race and taking the overall honors of the day.

Overall Results:

Pos	Helm	Sail No	Veterans (60+)	R1	R2	R3	R4	Pts
1st	JOHN REED	5045	NO	2	1	1	1	3
2nd	RICHARD BALL	5595	NO	6	2	6	2	7
3rd	ALISTAIR ROAF	4688	NO	1	5	2	5	8
4th	ALAN FULLER	4669	YES	4	4	6	3	11
5th	DAVE RUDMAN	5760	NO	5	3	4	6	12
6th	MICK KOSTIW	5572	NO	3	11	9	7	19
7th	MICK HEALY	5230	NO	7	9	5	10	21
8th	PETER GILLOW	5619	YES	11	7	11	4	22
9th	DAN DISHOP	5465	NO	8	8	7	11	23
10th	ROB TREND	5265	YES	9	10	8	8	25
11th	TONY DICKER	4442	YES	12	RTD	10	9	31
12th	DAVID BLEAKLEY	4573	YES	13	13	12	12	37
13th	KEITH TURTLE	5500	YES	14	12	13	13	38
14th	JAMES HART	5501	NO	10	6	RTD	RTD
15th	GRAHAM GRIMWOOD	4871	NO	15	RTD	14	DNS
16th	CLIVE MARSDEN	2153	YES	RTD	RTD	DNS	DNS
16th	MARK ASHFORD	4428	YES	RTD	RTD	DNS	DNS
16th	PETER HOLLINS	1782	YES	RTD	RTD	DNS	DNS