Noble Marine Supernova Travellers at Bartley Sailing Club

by Simon Hardiman 2 Jul 2021 18:11 BST 20 June 2021

41 boats from 11 different clubs attended the Bartley SC Noble Marine Supernova Open on Sunday June 20th making it a record turnout for the club.

The forecast had looked unpromising during the week but as the day arrived so did the most important ingredient; some wind. Although grey and overcast the wind was a steady ENE force 2 to 3 throughout enabling race officer Simon Hardiman to set courses the length of the reservoir for the sailors to stretch their legs.

There was a slight delay to race 1 as the large fleet took a while to launch from the 2 slipways and sail to the start line enabling the early birds to pick out the wind shifts up the beat ahead of the start. The fleet were cleanly away first time with a procession of boats hitting the windward mark at the same time followed by a short reach to a spacer mark where helms had to balance the need for mark room with the need to sail high so as not to get lost in the fleet's wind shadow. Even as the fleet reached the end of the downwind leg there were boats 5 deep around the leeward mark making boat placement key. The Cotswold crew showed that local knowledge counted for nothing with Gavin Young taking the win from Cliff Milliner, with Stephen Hawley 3rd (Bartley) and veteran Andy Bownes (Bartley) in 4th.

Race 2 had the 41 boats lined up on the start line with 30 seconds to spare only for the wind to increase and push the whole fleet over when the gun sounded. After a swift regrouping the second start was successful and the boats set off on the mile long beat once more. This time ex-national champion Sam Knight (Bartley) pushed to the front of the fleet with Cliff Milliner 2nd and Matt Biggs 3rd (Bartley).

The fleet came in for lunch at Tilly's Galley before launching for the final race. With the mantra 'if is ain't broke don't fix it' the race officer kept the course with 2 beats, 2 reaches and 2 runs the same for race 3. Having been at the front end of the fleet all day Stephen Hawley finally pushed through to take the win from Sam Knight and Cliff Milliner.

With the first 4 helms separated by just 2 points it was clear just how close the days racing had been. In the end Sam Knight won with Stephen Hawley taking 2nd from Cliff Milliner on the low points scoring system. 1st Veteran was Andy Bownes, 1st Lady was Ellen Clancy (Cotswold), and first youth and Mk1 boat was Tom Williams (Bartley).

It was fantastic to see such a large and competitive fleet, thanks to all who travelled to support the event and good luck to all at the Nationals!

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1st	1192	Sam Knight	Bartley SC	‑6	1	2	3
2nd	1263	Stephen Hawley	Bartley SC	3	‑4	1	4
3rd	1245	Cliff Milliner	Cotswold SC	2	2	‑3	4
4th	1261	Gavin Young	Cotswold SC	1	‑7	4	5
5th	1280	Alex Reeve	Cotswold SC	‑14	5	6	11
6th	1271	Matt Biggs	Bartley SC	9	3	‑10	12
7th	1256	Andy Bownes	Bartley SC	4	‑11	9	13
8th	1239	Chris Bownes	Bartley SC	‑10	9	5	14
9th	1257	Mike Gibson	Bartley SC	7	8	‑13	15
10th	1184	Garry Butterfield	Bartley SC	5	‑17	11	16
11th	1224	Chris Hawley	Bartley SC	8	‑10	8	16
12th	1246	Tony Critchley	Bolton SC	‑12	6	12	18
13th	1175	Colin Anderson	Blithfield SC	‑24	12	7	19
14th	1275	Ian Bartes	Burton SC	16	13	‑20	29
15th	1267	Jeremy Higson	Bartley SC	15	(DNF)	15	30
16th	442	Tom Williams	Bartley SC	‑21	19	14	33
17th	1141	Ellen Clancy	Cotswold SC	‑19	14	19	33
18th	1073	Sean Ricketts	Bartley SC	‑18	16	18	34
19th	1223	Jon Pebody	Hunts SC	11	24	‑30	35
20th	444	Mark Reddington	Bartley SC	13	(DNF)	22	35
21st	1254	Tony Bleasdale	Girton SC	‑29	20	16	36
22nd	1277	Doug Rankin	Blithfield SC	17	21	‑23	38
23rd	1241	Dave Watkins	Chase SC	22	‑25	17	39
24th	1161	Dan Rule	Carsington SC	‑28	18	24	42
25th	1231	Phil Taylor	Bartley SC	‑23	22	21	43
26th	1054	Neil Boneham	Bartley SC	20	‑26	25	45
27th	1083	Serena Stewardson	Emberton Park SC	‑32	15	31	46
28th	1127	Jason McDonnell	Bartley SC	‑30	23	28	51
29th	427	Megan Hardiman	Bartley SC	25	‑32	26	51
30th	1124	Colin Ricketts	Bartley SC	26	‑29	29	55
31st	1139	Dana Church	Nottingham SC	27	28	‑36	55
32nd	1180	David Stephen	Bartley SC	‑36	33	27	60
33rd	1167	Stuart Stephen	Bartley SC	31	30	‑32	61
34th	1074	Richard Williams	Bartley SC	‑35	27	35	62
35th	1185	John Human	Emberton Park SC	33	31	‑34	64
36th	1282	Gareth Blakemore	Bartley SC	34	‑36	33	67
37th	1225	Ken Saunders	Bartley SC	37	34	(DNF)	71
38th	1283	Giles Horwitch‑Smith	Bartley SC	‑38	35	37	72
39th	652	Jason Thorniley	Emberton Park SC	‑39	37	38	75
40th	472	John Williams	Emberton Park SC	‑40	38	39	77
41st	598	Mike Griffths	Emberton Park SC	‑41	39	40	79