Border Counties Midweek Sailing at Winsford Flash Sailing Club
by Pete Coop 29 Sep 2022 18:38 BST
27 September 2022
Despite a forecast of potential stormy winds and driving rain, 19 boats turned up to find a wind ranging from 5 to 12 knots and initially no rain!
Pete Coop had already secured the outright series win, but the other podium places were all up for grabs from 4 boats as discards would start to kick in throughout the day.
Race officer John Close and his team got the first race away on time - Pete Coop (Supernova), after a brief duel With Eric Haselden (Supernova) extended his lead to win the race, with Eric 2nd and the Solo of Ted Garner 3rd after handicaps and average laps were calculated.
Following a short lunch break the rain came down! Race 2 got under way and following a very tight start with a square line Pete Coop was first to the windward mark and extended his lead throughout the race. Eric recorded another 2nd while Dave Turtle (Comet) started his move up the overall leader board with a 3rd place.
Race 3 got promptly under way with frequent showers. This time the line had a slight starboard bias which caught a few sailors out as they were trapped on the left-hand side of the course.
The race was characterised by a significant wind change from Northwest to Northeast on the final lap.
Pete Coop again arrived at the front of the pack and extended out to take the win. This time 2nd and 3rd places went to the 2 solos of Ted Garner and Phil Snewin.
Special mention went to Mel Randall who has only been sailing 6 weeks. This was her first regatta and she finished with 3 boats behind her and was the first Lady helm.
On behalf of the visitors Ted Garner thanked WFSC and highlighted how the culture of the Border Counties series was very positive, friendly, inclusive and proved that a number of different boats can compete and put-up good scores.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Class | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | SUPERNOVA | 1281 | Pete Coop | | Winsford Flash | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2nd | SUPERNOVA | 1296 | Eric Haselden | | Winsford Flash | 2 | 2 | 6 | 4 |
| 3rd | SOLO | 5016 | Ted Garner | | Budworth | 3 | 6 | 2 | 5 |
| 4th | COMET | 852 | Dave Turtle | | Shustoke | 4 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
| 5th | SOLO | 5154 | Bill Webber | | Shropshire S C | 6 | 8 | 4 | 10 |
| 6th | LIGHTNING 368 | 410 | Jeremy Cooper | | Shotwick Lake | 5 | 5 | 7 | 10 |
| 7th | SOLO | 5963 | Phil Snewin | | Chester | 11 | 10 | 3 | 13 |
| 8th | SUPERNOVA | 590 | George Coop | | Winsford Flash | 7 | 7 | DNF | 14 |
| 9th | COMET | 311 | Steve Bellamy | | Winsford Flash | 8 | 9 | 10 | 17 |
| 10th | SUPERNOVA | 519 | Pete Chambers | | Winsford Flash | 14 | 4 | DNF | 18 |
| 11th | COMET | 705 | Martin Loud | | Winsford Flash | 10 | 12 | 8 | 18 |
| 12th | SOLO | 5888 | Phil Proctor | | Chester | 9 | 11 | 9 | 18 |
| 13th | SUPERNOVA | 1041 | Steve Vandersteen | | Winsford Flash | 13 | 14 | 11 | 24 |
| 14th | MIRACLE | 3520 | Simon Dolman | Julie Dolman | Shotwick Lake | 16 | 13 | 12 | 25 |
| 15th | ENTERPRISE | 22688 | Dave Thomas | Shan Stapley | Shotwick Lake | 12 | 15 | 14 | 26 |
| 16th | COMET | 739 | Mel Randall | | Winsford Flash | 19 | 17 | 13 | 30 |
| 17th | SUPERNOVA | 1241 | Frank Lafferty | | Winsford Flash | 15 | 16 | 15 | 30 |
| 18th | SUPERNOVA | 406 | James Stark | | Winsford Flash | 17 | 18 | 16 | 33 |
| 19th | MIRACLE | 4116 | Ellen Dinelow | Pete Williams | Bala | 18 | 19 | DNC | 37 |