2022 Hansa TT at Frensham Pond Sailability
by Lisa Skirrow 28 Sep 2022 00:04 BST
21 September 2022
Frensham Hansa TT - Hannah wins the 303 one person class © Tony Machen
The weather forecast was quite explicit, and not very encouraging - morning wind strength of 3mph, with an increase of up to 5mph for the afternoon. Yet still sailors gathered at Frensham Pond for the ninth event in the 2022 Hansa National TT Series.
As there was not enough wind in the morning to get the boats as far as the starting line, morning racing was abandoned. The wind picked up in the afternoon and the whole operation sprang to life getting all the sailors out ready for some serious racing. The Hansa 2.3 fleet was first to start at 2.15pm with three local boats - Lara Sturgis and Ray Bedwell got off to a good start with Andrew Lebec not too far behind.
Next up was the Liberty fleet start, followed by the single handed 303s and last were the double handed 303s. unfortunately the wind dropped off again with no boats getting more than half way up the first beat, so after 25 minutes the race was abandoned - much to the annoyance of Tessa Watkiss in a Liberty who had made good progress and James and Maddy Woosnam who reckoned they had passed almost all of the other boats despite being in the final start.
The breeze picked up again quite soon and so the whole process started again, after the patrol boat had shortened the first beat considerably.
The 2.3s set off once again with Andrew and Ray making good starts and progressing well up the windward leg. The wind was light all afternoon and so progress was slow. By the second beat the order had changed and Lara sailed a really good leg to win the race followed by Andrew and then Ray.
The Liberty fleet of six boats, three from Rutland, two Frensham boats and one from Whitefriars, seemed to encounter the weed around the start line with many boats needing their rudders lifted to clear them. Peter Etherton (Frensham) seemed to be seriously hampered by the weed and Ric Cassell (Rutland) also needed help from the power boat to get clear of the weed.
Ric then had a lucky break and sailed between David Durston (Whitefriars) and Tessa Watkiss (Frensham) at the start of the first beat and then got a friendly lift which gave him a big advantage and he rounded the windward mark in first place. Peter Etherton and David Durston continued to have problems with the weed and both retired early.
The Libertys managed two laps of the course and the final windward leg, with Ric taking first place followed by Tessa and Paul Pearson (Rutland).
The single handed 303 fleet was well contested with 9 boats sailing. Hannah Nicoll (Whitefriars) got an early lead and managed to hold onto that all the way through the race. Harry Kennington (Frensham) and Rory McKinna (Clyde Cruising Club) had a bit of a tussle at the windward mark on their first lap which will have slowed them both down a bit, but they rounded that mark in second and third places, but on the following lap Harry had managed to pull away from Rory and was very comfortably in second place.
Within the rest of the fleet Chichian Wu (Chinese Taipei Sailing Association) was sailing well at his first visit to Frensham, and locals Mike Everitt and Judith Riggs stayed the course, finishing in fourth and fifth. Richard May and Sarah Orme (both Frensham) both retired early having been frustrated by the light winds and weed.
The double-handed fleet had six boats: two from Frensham, two from New Forest, one from Chesil and one all the way from Carsington. The fleet stretched out a lot over the two laps but James and Maddy Woosnam got an early lead and managed to hold onto that eventually finishing first - local knowledge possibly to their advantage.
Steve Kitson and Jane Knight (New Forest) came in second with Ian and Enid Chearman (Carsington) came in third, ahead of Philip Hall and Tom Hepburn (Chesil), Andrew Holmes and Rowena Marsh (New Forest) and Colin Freeman and Brian Grimwood (Frensham).
This being the final meeting in the 2022 TT Series, the winners of the Ben Ainslie Team Trophy was won by the Frensham team (Lindsay Burns, Mike Everitt and Tessa Watkiss) yet again - the 15th consecutive year.
A big thank you to all of the helpers, local and visiting, who made the day such a success, and to the volunteers in the galley who kept all of the sailors and volunteers so well fed and watered all day.
Overall Frensham TT Results:
Hansa 2.3 Class
1st - Lara Sturgis (Frensham)
2nd - Andrew Lebec (Frensham)
3rd - Ray Bedwell
Hansa 303 one-person Class
1st - Hannah Nicoll (Whitefriars)
2nd - Harry Kennington (Frensham)
3rd - Rory McKinna (Clyde Cruising Club)
Hansa 303 two-person Class
1st - James and Maddy Woosnam (Frensham)
2nd - Steve Kitson and Jane Knight (Whitefriars)
3rd - Ian and Enid Chearman (Carsington)
Hansa Liberty Class
1st - Ric Cassell (Rutland)
2nd - Tessa Watkiss (Frensham)
3rd - Paul Pearson (Rutland)
2022 Hansa National TT Series Results Overall: (see also, full results)
Hansa 2.3 Class
1st - Lindsay Burns (Frensham)
2nd -Andrew Lebec (Frensham)
3rd - Lara Sturgis (Frensham)
Hansa 303 one-person Class
1st - Rory McKinna (Clyde Cruising Club)
2nd - Mike Everitt (Frensham)
3rd - James Woosnam (Frensham)
Hansa 303 two-person Class
1st - Philip Hall & Tom Hepworth (Chesil)
2nd - Steve Kitson & Jane Knight (New Forest)
3rd - Ian & Enid Chearman (Carsington)
Hansa Liberty Class
1st - David Durston (Whitefriars)
2nd - Paul Pearson (Rutland)
3rd - Ric Cassell (Rutland)