Please select your home edition
Edition
Noble Marine 2022 YY - LEADERBOARD

Comet Open at Silver Wing Sailing Club

by Adam Wickenden, Ken Baker & Helen Evans 14 Sep 2022 10:38 BST 10 September 2022
Silver Wing Comet Open © Phil Bergquist

Silver Wing SC held their inaugural Comet open meeting on Saturday 10th September. We contested the newly re-purposed 'Comet Trophy'. Originally used as an inter-club Fireball trophy back when Silver Wing was British European Airways' works club. We think it is part of an old propeller from a de Haviland Heron. It is probably heavy enough to sink a Comet.

12 boats, including 4 from the home fleet of 5, showed up to a gentle North West wind and rather a lot of weed. The weed was somewhat a nuisance, limiting course options for the race officer as a large chunk of the leeward side of the lake being un-usable.

Four 40-minute races were planned with one discard, two before and two after lunch, each pair back-to-back.

Race one got away on time, slightly more starboard bias on the line than the RO would have liked, but everyone behaved. The first beats saw an initial good performance by a Silver Wing Solo sailor (who shall remain un-named) sailing a borrowed Comet. Unfortunately, in a Solo you can easily tell if you have forgotten to put the transom bung in while sailing - you can see it. Not so in a Comet. I have seen swamped Salcombe Yawls floating lower in the water, but only just! We had the rescue boat escort him back to the slipway just in case.

The lead boat then peeled of after the first lap. The first 3 boats then promptly forgot to use the windward mark of the second beat and headed instead for the gybe mark. They corrected this error without any loss of position.

One or two people struggled with the weed initially, but with a half up rudder and the occasional lifting of the daggerboard if the boat felt dead, the intrepid Comet sailors overcame adversity. Eddie Pope in 377 won ahead of Izac Dodds in 701 and then local sailor Ken Baker in 695 third.

Race 2 started as soon as the last boat was finished and ready. Helen Evans in 868 spotted that the wind was starting to shift right as predicted. This had her well placed for most of the first beat. However, shifts and a hole at the windward mark enabled Ken Baker in 695 to lead a couple of visitors round in front of her. Ken was able to hold two pursuers off for the first run, and was only pipped int 4th by Ben Palmer in 597 on the finish line. Eddie Pope finished first again, followed by Izac Dodds.

After this we convened for lunch. The Comet fleet are a keen bunch. The wind had been steadily shifting to the right so a re-setting of the course was required. They were all on the water and at the start line before the RO even had the chance to go back in and draw the new course on the board! Fortunately, the race team displayed mark numbers for the new course on the back of the committee boat and there was a eager crew in a Jaffa waiting to lead the fleet around.

Race 3 started with the line now biased a bit too much to port. The wind had swung back a bit - such is a race officer's lot! One competitor got a flying start right at the pin, only a mainsheet width from being over. Izac Dodds was second with Ken Baker in third. Steve Gregory in 231 was able to follow the lead bunch in fourth for the first two of the three laps, but ended up dropping to 6th on the last lap.

Race 4 started is a little less wind and 8 competitors. It also saw a change of scene at the front. Ben Palmer in 597 led for most of the race, sometimes by quite a big margin, although he was reeled in towards the end by Izac Dodds. Ken Baker in 695 was second for the first and most of the second lap but was passed on the penultimate beat by Izac Dodds. Eddie Pope could only manage a fourth, which was to be his discard. With 35 minutes gone the RO decided to finish on two laps as it looked like the wind would die. At which point, the wind filled in nicely! Still there was the consolation of a big Comet chocolate cake and scones for afternoon tea.

Further photos taken by Phil Bergquist can be found here...

Overall Results:

PosSail NoHelmClubRigR1R2R3R4Pts
1st377Eddie PopeOgston SCWhite Xtra d112‑44
2nd701Izac DoddsCMYCStandard‑22125
3rd597Ben PalmerBaltic Wharf SCStandard‑53418
4th695Ken BakerSilverwing SCWhite Xtra3‑4339
5th323Michael EttershankUp River Yacht ClubStandard455‑614
6th231Steve GregoryFrensham Pond SCWhite Xtra‑986519
7th868Helen EvansSilverwing SCWhite Xtra7‑97721
8th849Timothy HiggsBurghfield SCWhite Xtra‑878823
9th400John SturgeonHawley Lake SCWhite Xtra66(RET)DNC25
10th300Peter PhillipsSWSCXtra(RET)10RETDNC36
11th869Bob DoddsCMYCWhite Xtra(RET)DNCDNCDNC39
11th220Clive RogersSilverwing SCXtra(DNC)DNCDNSDNC39

Related Articles

What was intriguing at the RYA Dinghy Show 2023?
Remote operated self-bailers set one man's heart a flutter Determined not to let moving house (the day before) put him off, YachtsandYachting.com's website developer, Magnus Smith, attended his favourite boat show during the last weekend in February. Posted on 6 Mar
Derbyshire Youth Sailing at Staunton Harold
Buoy number 7 became everyone's least favourite mark Our last Derbyshire Youth Event of 2022 saw 15 boats registering at Staunton Harold Sailing Club on Saturday 29th October. Posted on 6 Nov 2022
Staunton Harold Comet Open
Low water levels fail to deter 18 entries for Northern Aphelion Series finale Low water levels at Staunton Harold Reservoir, only about 40% of capacity, did not deter 18 entries to the Club Comet Open and the last event in the Comet Association Northern Aphelion Series. Posted on 27 Oct 2022
Comet Nationals at Bala
A real case of third time lucky It was a real case of third time lucky, as 26 Comets contested the National Championship over the August Bank Holiday weekend, including a large number of first time entrants to the Nationals. Posted on 23 Sep 2022
Merthyr Tydfil Comet Open
The stronger forecast gusts generally stayed away The forecast was for stronger winds from the south with occasional showers. When I left home in Cardiff to head north to the club, the wind was rather gusty. I was surprised as we headed north and inland that the wind strength seemed to reduce. Posted on 8 Sep 2022
Cransley Comet Open
The full spectrum of wind strengths and directions There's something predictable occurs every summer at Cransley when the Comets arrive, just like swallows arriving back the same time every year from Africa. Posted on 12 Jul 2022
Winsford Flash Comet Open
Seven lady helms amongst the 16 competitors A total of sixteen Comets made it to Winsford made up of ten local boats and six visitors. Very positively, we had seven lady helms competing. Posted on 20 Jun 2022
Comets at Nottingham
One of the few places to enjoy a cream tea between races A good turnout of 16 boats took part in the Comet Open held at Nottingham SC. Six of the entries were visitors from as far afield as Bristol, Reading and Cheshire; joined by ten home club entries of which two weren't regular Comet sailors. Posted on 31 May 2022
Comet Association Championships at Staunton Harold
Insect bite to the local favourite reduces the fleet from 21 to 20 Twenty-one competitors were signed on from across the country but only 20 took part following the late withdrawal of local favourite Alan Bennett due to a swollen face following an insect bite! Posted on 20 May 2022
Fishers Green Comet Open
Part of the Comet Eastern Travellers' Series Fishers Green SC held their Comet open meeting on 7th May, as part of the Comet Eastern Travellers' Series. The competitors asked for four races, so that is what they got. Posted on 10 May 2022