Firefly Open at Spinnaker Sailing Club
by Tom Clay 8 Nov 2021 16:40 GMT
7 November 2021
Spinnaker Sailing Club's Firefly Open Meeting on Sunday 7th November saw a select group of ten crews gather, a number of whom were nursing sore heads after the Firefly 75th Anniversary Dinner the previous night. Spinnaker blew away the cobwebs by running seven sprint races in the course of the day each with a target race time of 20 minutes.
The crews were faced with a blustery Northerly wind which brought large shifts and holes especially approaching windward marks. Stuart and Lizzie Hudson dominated the day from the first race which they won from Ted and Ella Ashworth. They won the second from Ed Morris, the third from Sam Petty and Fi Edwards and the fourth from Ted and Ella again.
After a break for lunch, Stuart and Lizzie were not as dominant off the start line in the afternoon, mainly because Stuart was OCS at the start in two races and had to go back. It made little difference in Races 5 and 6 which they won first from Ted and Ella and then from Ed Morris. Although they had won the Open meeting, Stuart and Lizzie raced the last race, mainly because Lizzie was enjoying herself so much. This did lead to a small dent in their dominance when Ed Morris broke away to win the race from Stuart and Lizzie.
Congratulations must also go to Robbie Hudson, crewed by his mother Jane who was helming a Firefly for the second time in races and came in a very creditable seventh.
The Open Meeting was won by Stuart and Lizzie Hudson from Ted and Ella Ashworth with Ed Morris coming third.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Helm | Crew | Boat Name | Sail No | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Stuart Hudson | Lizzie Hudson | Fursty Ferret / 3850 | 3850 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | Ted Ashworth | Ella Ashworth | Hush / 3556 | 3556 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 16 |
| 3 | Edward Morris | | Morry the lorry / 784 | 784 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 18 |
| 4 | Sam Petty | Fi Edwards | | | 4 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 24 |
| 5 | Ben Pym | | Barry Girl / 3713 | 3713 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 24 |
| 6 | Neil Marshall | Tabitha | Carina / 3895 | 3895 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
| 7 | Robbie Hudson | Jane Hudson | | | 9 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 40 |
| 8 | James Oborne | | Mojo / 3628 | 3628 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 47 |
| 9 | Tom Clay | Emma Barker | Rufus T / 3784 | 3784 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 47 |
| 10 | Lucy Boreham | | Willow / 3739 | 3739 | 8 | 3 | 5 | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 49 |