Pwllheli Autumn Challenge Series - Week 4
by Vicky Cox 31 Oct 2022 05:25 GMT
29-30 October 2022
Weekend 4 of the Pwllheli Challenge Series, and the deciding weekend of the Autumn series, brought yet more strong winds and much discussion as to whether or not to race. But all skippers rallied round and racing was able to go ahead in a slight window in both the heavy winds and heavy rain.
As the fleet approached the start line, 27kt easterly winds whipped up some lively seas and the whole fleet were late crossing the line. But Peter Dunlop and Victoria Cox's J109 Mojito were closest, getting a good lead upwind to mark number 6 followed by Wil Partington's Hunter Honeybee. Down wind and there was some reticence in hoisting kites with only Nigel Ingram's Farr 30, Wild Haggis eventually hoisting a kite.
Once their kite was set they soon caught up with the rest of the fleet but a broach while dropping the kite at mark number 2 along the west end of the beach, allowed David Leans J99 Jackpot and Mojito back in front. A second lap saw some very close racing between the three boats and with a better kite leg on the second lap, Wild haggis took the lead to take line honours closely followed by Jackpot. But with such close racing Mojito we're able to take their 7th bullet of the series meaning that David Lean's Jackpot had to settle for 2nd place, just 7 seconds behind on corrected. Further back in the fleet, Wil Partington's Honeybee took first in class 2, finishing just 27 seconds ahead of Paul Kitteringham's Elan 350 Finally.
Second race and the fleet were all ready to go when race officer Robin Evans lowered the class flags. The whole fleet started together and were still together when they rounded the first mark. David Lean's J99 was loving the windy conditions and with some skilful sailing, they managed to take an early lead. They managed to capitalise on this by hoisting their kite downwind, while Mojito cautiously went for their code zero instead. At the finish, Jackpot took 1st, 2 minutes ahead of Mojito who were 2 minutes ahead of Steve Williams's Darling.
Skippers and crews retired to Plas Heli for results, refreshments and a Halloween party with fireworks. With majority of the fleet short on crew for Sundays racing, coupled with a forecast of heavier winds, it was agreed that racing would be cancelled, which therefore concluded the Autumn series. Meaning that despite missing the first weekend of the series, Mojito were the winners, with 7 bullets and one second place. 2nd in the series was Jackpot and Wild Haggis 3rd.
With insufficient crew throughout the fleet on Sunday, the available Mojito and Quattro crew, joined forces with Paul Kitteringham and his crew on Elan 350 Finally, to complete the Tremadog Triangle around club marks 0, 2, 8 and 10, and back to 0. With winds gusting into the 30's a fast time corrected time of 48mins and 44seconds was set, putting them at the top of the 2022 Tremadog Triangle score board.
The Pwllheli Challenge series now rolls over into the Winter Series, a 3 weekend Series with one race a day, starting on the 12th/13th November. The schedule of races in the winter series and all results are on the club website www.PwllheliSailingClub.co.uk.
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