Please select your home edition
Edition
J Composites 2022 - J99 LEADERBOARD

Osprey Inland Championship at Blithfield Sailing Club

by Ian McDonald 3 Apr 2022 19:06 BST 2-3 April 2022
Osprey Inlands at Blithfield © Iain Ferguson

After an excellent Friday evening of Peter Slaters curry and extensive assessment of Holden's beer, the Osprey fleet of 16 were greeted on Saturday by light winds, 180 degree shifts and very challenging sailing conditions. The huge experience of OD Bill Watson supported by Margaret Boyson allowed two races to be run.

Race 1 saw a trend being set,with Richard and Mark Hartley winning. Cooney and Frith enjoyed their return to Blithfield in 2nd with Justin Jones and Chris Anderson getting the fleet demo boat into third.

Race 2 was won by Kevin Francis and Peter Greig with Richard Marshall and Alex Willis 2nd. Mick Greenland and Will Govid were denied a win when a re- rig during racing was required- but they held third.

The Saturday evening was the "normal" excellent deluxe Hog Roast and many extras. I am not sure how to explain the Holden's beer supply being doubled, and it being all drunk an hour earlier than last year's event. Certainly Team Hartley's distribution of wine made the calculation easier! We look forward to measuring this trend in next year's event.

Sunday morning and proper cooked breakfast and then out into much nicer winds. The Hartleys were back at the front in race 3 chased by Alistair Reynard and Rob Burdekin. Jon Batt and Jonathan Gibbons were third. The last race saw Team Hartley settle into the lead with Cooney and Frith chasing. Third were Alistair and Rob, last year's Wilkinson Sword travellers' trophy winners.

Overall Results: (top six)

1st Richard and Mark Hartley (Blithfield) 1381
2nd Kevin Francis, Peter Greig (Castle Cove) 1296
3rd Martin Cooney Peter Frith (Poole YC) 1290
4th Alistair Reynard Rob Burdekin (Carsington) 1363
5th Justin Jones Chris Anderson (Chase) 1360
6th Jon Batt Jonathan Gibbons (Blithfield) 1331

Related Articles

Gray and Edwards' Osprey lands a big fish
Winning the 2022-2023 Selden Sailjuice Winter Series The 2022-2023 Selden Sailjuice Winter Series has given the perfect start to the Osprey class's 70th Anniversary Year. Sailing the Osprey Class Association's demo boat, Peter Gray & Geoff Edwards won the series overall. Posted on 13 Mar
Search is on for new Osprey Youth Team
A brand new young pairing will be given the chance to borrow and sail a top spec Osprey Today, the Osprey Class launched its search for a new Youth Team. A brand new young pairing will be given the chance to borrow and sail a top spec Osprey at this year's Osprey Nationals, at Hayling Island SC, from September 2nd to 5th. Posted on 7 Mar
Eleven years later! Gray wins second winter title
Peter Gray & Geoff Edwards have won the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series It's 11 years since Peter Gray won the overall title in a Scorpion. This year the Staunton Harold sailor wins the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series sailing an Osprey with Geoff Edwards. Posted on 21 Feb
Seldén SailJuice Winter Series finale approaches
Overall victory will be decided at the Oxford Blue on 18th Feb The Seldén SailJuice Winter Series reaches its climax with the Oxford Blue next Saturday (18 February), and there are three top boats in contention. So far this winter, all eight events and the maximum 24 races have been held. Posted on 10 Feb
Blakes lead Seldén SailJuice Winter Series
Osprey out in front as the halfway stage approaches Fast approaching the halfway stage of the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series, Roger & Iain Blake have taken the lead in their Osprey doublehander... Posted on 1 Jan
Osprey Class End of Year Round Up
Peter Gray & Geoff Edwards lead the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series Overall winner of the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series several years ago, Peter Gray is having another crack at this winter series, this time in an Osprey, with Geoff Edwards on the trapeze. Posted on 16 Dec 2022
Paington SC Christmas Cracker Pursuit
Scary forecast puts off 12 teams of the 33 registered - wrong call! In the days leading up to the 2022 edition of the Christmas Cracker pursuit race, part of the Sailing Southwest Winter series, the forecast was looking a bit scary. It was certainly enough to put off 12 of the 33 pre-registered teams. Posted on 24 Nov 2022
Blithfield Barrel week 1
Murky, damp and cold conditions do not deter 38 boats in Staffordshire A wonderful sunny day was forecast for this weekends start of the 2022/23 Blithfield Barrel winter series, held on Blithfield Reservoir in Staffordshire. But it did not turn out that way. Posted on 16 Nov 2022
Osprey Scottish & Northern Championship
17 boats for the 'End of Season Final Fling' at Blithfield On October 22nd & 23rd, 17 Ospreys competed for the Scottish & Northern Championship at Blithfield SC having moved South from originally scheduled to be hosts Carsington SC. It was also the 'End of Season Final Fling'. Posted on 28 Oct 2022
Osprey National Championships at Porthpean
Freddie sings about how the class had to Ride The Wild Wind After the amazing run of hot weather and light winds, often making open, national and world sailing events frustrating in the UK, the forecast for the Ospreys looked solid, unfortunately a little too solid as it turned out. Posted on 8 Sep 2022