2022 Bartley Beast Round 3 - "The Beast Bellows"

The Beast was certainly Bellowing as the sailors arrived for the 3rd instalment out of 4 in the 'Bartley Beast' series. The rain was lashing down with the squally wind whipping up the chop and topping off with white caps.

The sailors congregated in the Galley to ponder whether to unpack their boats whilst they tucked into their cooked breakfasts. As the rescue boats were launched light appeared on the horizon and the weather front passed over to present an altogether more enticing force 3 to 4 with bright sunshine.

Race officer Steve Ward announced a 1/2hr delay to the race programme to give some crews welcome additional time to rig and launch and then the day was under way.

Bartley Beast Round 3 - photo © Debbie Degge

The double handers got under way on a tight start line with plenty of port bias for competitors to trade gel coat, but surprisingly all got away cleanly and set off on the long beat up the reservoir. There was some tight fleet racing for the Merlins trading places throughout whilst the 505 stretched its legs ahead of the fleet and the RS200s and GP14 hung on to the tail of the fleet all wondering if they had done enough to stay in the mix when the calculations were finalised.

In race 1 Richie Adams and Rob Kennagh from Midland SC took line honours in their Merlin from Matt Biggs and Mark Fowler in the Albacore, with bronze taken by fellow Merlin Rocket of Colin and Shaun Anderson from Blithfield SC. The 505 of Charlie Chandler and Russ Hopkins (Tewksbury / Bartley) blasted into 4th having provided the spectators on the shore with some great entertainment whilst the RS200s and 400s were having all sorts of excitement further down the fleet!

Bartley Beast Round 3 - photo © Debbie Degge

As the double handers went in for a well-earned lunch the 28 single handers took to the water. With the OK Nationals scheduled earlier in the year than for most classes a fleet of 7 entered to get some practice in. Competitors came from many different clubs from as far as Morecombe and Glossop with Phantoms, ILCAs, Supernovas, Finns, K1s, Solos, Lightening 368s, Solos, Streakers, and a windsurfer all on the start line it was set to be a great day of racing.

If the sailors thought the start line was exciting for the double handers it was even more so for the single handers, however they were almost all clear away with just a few spinning 720s after a vocal start! Per previous form at the Bartley Beast Andy Couch pulled away in his Phantom to make good use of the clear air to get away for the win. With many of the other boats on similar handicaps (OK, ILCA7, K1, Supernova) it was a game of handicap snakes and ladders with K1s and Oks pointing high on the beats, ILCA7s catching back on the runs and Supernovas overtaking on the reaches. When the results were calculated it became clear that the Oks had won out with Andy Davis taking 2nd from Nick Craig with the OK fleet taking 6 of the top 8 places; looks like their Nationals will be closely contended!

Bartley Beast Round 3 - photo © Debbie Degge

The second double hander race saw dominance again from the Merlin fleet with Adams / Kennagh taking the win from team Anderson. Nick Eaves and Greg Pace found the increasing wind speed to their liking as they got the RS400 onto the plane for some screaming downwind legs to take 3rd from the 3rd Merlin of Julian Harms and George Bender. The 505 blasted through to round off the top 5 in an increased fleet of 15 for the double handers second outing of the day. Further down the fleet were a few crews who had decided they needed to cool off and let others take the lead by practicing their open water swimming techniques (you know who you were!). Special mention to Chris Oates and Dan Boddice who warmed up and dried out from a pre-start capsize in race 1 to complete race 2 in only their 3rd year of sailing.

The second single hander race provided some start line drama as the wind shifted to provide massive port bias resulting in frantic luffing and a few penalty turns. Andy Couch pulled away again in the Phantom but Nick Craig had done enough to overhaul him on handicap for the win. Jim Hunt took 3rd in his OK followed by Duncan Adams from Burton SC in his Phantom.

Bartley Beast Round 3 - photo © Debbie Degge

As the race concluded the clouds darkened and the heavens opened with a return to the squally winds of the early morning. While the fleet packed away the 2 ILCA 4s of sisters Millie and Megan Hardiman stayed on the water to blast through the chop until the rescue team finally managed to catch them and send them in! The combined grins from the returning sodden helms acted as a great reminder as to why we all enjoy our sport!

Next and final instalment of this seasons Beast is on the 4th Feb 2023. Booking is open on-line on the Bartley SC website.

Round 3 Results: