K1 Open at South Windermere Sailing Club
by Hilary King 25 May 2022 06:28 BST
21 May 2022
The K1 open series moved up to Windermere on Saturday 21st May 2022. South Windermere Sailing Club welcomed 5 visitors to its new base at the YMCA Lakeside, on the West bank of Windermere for the second round of the 2022 K1 open series.
As usual on Windermere, the weather did not act on the forecast, and racing was held in dry conditions with a wind mostly from the south west, and varied from exciting down to gentle, often varying quickly-this is normal for Windermere!
Race 1 started with the more exciting winds and saw Hilly King attending from Frensham Pond (one of four King brothers racing at this event) leading for the first lap. Jeremy Hudson(also Frensham Pond) passed Hilly on the upwind leg of the second lap and held his lead to the finish. He was closely followed by Hilly, then Mark Fearnley (South Windermere),Geoff King(Tewkesbury), Mike Deane (South Windermere),then Phil King (Nantwich and Borders) and Jason King (Datchet Water) recovering from being caught on the wrong side of the lake when a large random lift swept across the lake and then very quickly disappeared. Unfortunately John Cheesbrough (South Windermere) broke his jib halyard, and that ended his day. Jane Telford (South Windermere) and Tim Clarke (South Windermere) both missed a mark on the course and subsequently retired.
Race 2 started with some spectacular broaches in a gust at the start line, resulting in Mike and Hilly starting behind the rest of the fleet. This was to have dramatic effect on the results as Jeremy, Geoff, Mark and Jason fought out for the lead. At the start of the second lap, desperate to catch the fleet Mike picked a very different route to the windward mark, hit the lucky button on the wind shifts and surged into the lead which he held on to the finish. He was followed over the line by Jason, Mark, Jeremy and the brothers, Hilly, Geoff and Phil.
With all to play for the final race started in less wind and begun in a very orderly fashion with Geoff leading with Jeremy, Hilly, Jason, Mike and Mark all in close attendance. Geoff kindly stopped mid-way through the second lap, to allow all the boats to bunch together, desperate to find a bit of pressure to keep moving. Jason played the very shifty conditions brilliantly to create a huge lead which was never to be challenged. Jeremy was second closely followed by Geoff, Mike, Hilly, Mark and Phil.
With both Jason and Jeremy tied on points countback gave the Northern Area Championship to Jason.
Overall Results:
1st Jason King
2nd Jeremy Hudson
3rd Mike Deane
Prizes were presented by South Windermere's race Officer, Alison Graham, and all the racers agreed the event had been great fun and enjoyed by all. Visitors commented on the outstanding beauty of South Windermere SC's new location, and new club house, expressing the wish to return soon when building works are finished.
The Open meeting was finished with a fabulous meal overlooking the lake discussing the day.
Special thanks must go to Mike Deane for his tireless work in making Windermere a success and Paul Higgins for his fabulous photographs.