Comet Class Association National Championship at Fishers Green Sailing Club

Comet Nationals at Fishers Green © Kevin O'Brien

Comet Nationals at Fishers Green © Kevin O'Brien

Comet Nationals at Fishers Green © Kevin O'Brien

Fishers Green Sailing Club hosted the Comet Class National Championships in the Lee Valley Park.

As the July weekend approached plans were in place for three days of racing and a program of social events. However, in common with many inland sailing venues the emergence of large patches of weed threatened the viability of holding a Championship. The weed appears quickly and unpredictably under certain conditions, and for three days beforehand the Club members were manually removing boatloads of weed from the course area. Because the lake was originally dug in two halves, the north half is much deeper and therefore relatively weed-free but the struggle remained of sailing there from the club shore.

On Friday morning everyone was met with a scene of pouring rain, random patches of weed, and not a breath of wind, the worst possible scenario for a flagship event for both the club and the Comets. However as the day progressed, conditions began to improve sufficiently for races 1 & 2 to be held during the afternoon, albeit in extremely light and shifty wind conditions.

On Friday evening the social program got under way with a sailing themed quiz, the highlight of which was the appearance of Quizmaster Clive Gladwin, in a dazzling orange suit, a literal eye opener to visitors and club members alike.

On Saturday, no further weed patches appeared and the gradually strengthening wind to 10 mph made racing much better and a full program of four races was completed.

Comet Nationals at Fishers Green - photo © Kevin O'Brien

After sailing the Comet Association held their AGM and the day was completed with an absolutely delicious 3 course meal, planned and produced by Club member Genevieve Braas, which will go down in the annals of Club history.

By Sunday morning the wind speed had further strengthened to 12 mph with possible gusts which promised to make racing much livelier than at the beginning of the event with Mike Ettershank performing a spectacular capsize before the start.

Comet Nationals at Fishers Green - photo © Kevin O'Brien

Due to a dispute over interpretation of the course a hearing was held to resolve the case which decided the result of the 7th race, and thus the championship. The outcome was to award redress to Bob Dodd from Crawley Mariners SC who finally finished .7 of a point ahead of runner up Guy Wilkins from Chipstead SC.

Overall Results: