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