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West Kirby Sailing Club Arctic Series - Day 4

by Liz Potter 30 Jan 2023 10:40 GMT 29 January 2023
Ian McLean & Dan Ely - West Kirby SC Arctic Series day 4 © Alan Jenkins

The Arctic Series at West Kirby Sailing Club continued on Sunday. It was a day of opposites and extremes, with twists and turns worthy of a top-class novel.

Race Officer Liz Potter had just flown back from Tenerife 12 hours earlier, from some winter RS Aero training at Amarilla Sailing Club. She went straight from 22 degrees to 5 degrees, 25 knots to 7-15 knots and huge waves to flat water on the Marine Lake, which was also busy with youth training and University team racing practice ahead of the BUSA Qualifiers next weekend.

Ten boats rigged up for races 7 & 8 of the Arctic Series; four of which were sailed by men called Steve. It was the start of a confusing day.

Steve the Canoe sailor failed to locate and cross the start line. The Albacore of John Carlin, crewed by another Steve, broke its mast in a moderate gust on the first reach and all but one Steve and three non-Steves rounded the second mark the wrong way. Then, the Steve who got the course right capsized and got his ILCA mainsheet caught under the rudder.

Moreover, everyone continued on their happy random way, apart from the Albacore who went home.

In an attempt to correct the chaotic karma, the race was shortened after three laps, with the non-Steve sailor Stuart Dawson taking the win in his ILCA 5 over fellow ILCA sailor Ioannis Koutsokeras.

The next race sequence was rolled out with the same course, in the hope that all competitors had learnt which way to round the marks and had possibly changed their names.

With chaos brushed aside, Trevor Jenkins & Sally Bromilow won the race on handicap in the GP14, with Stuart Dawson in second, and Ian McLean & Dan Ely in third in the Albacore.

The series ends with a final two races in 3 weeks' time, and is currently led by Ioannis, with Trevor one point behind in second.

Meanwhile, the club is joining forces with Dee Sailing Club in a fortnight, to start the combined winter tidal series on the Dee estuary.

Series results so far:

PosClassBoatNameSail NoHelm & CrewR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8Pts
1stLaser Radial 195201Ioannis Koutsokeras  11122‑47
2ndGP14 19Trevor Jenkins & Sally Bromilow12  31(NSC)18
3rdAlbacoreSensationAL8234John Carlin & Steve2‑33333(RET) 14
4thAlbacoreEssex Girl7915Ian McLean & Dan Ely4‑544‑55(NSC)320
5thSoloStill Qualty Time5907Steve Ferrington 122  RET621
6thLaser 199508John Ralph34    4527
7thLaser Radial 216509Steve Shallcroft    443729
8thLaser Radial 359Stuart Dawson      1236
9thLaser 309Steve Jardine56      44
10thInt Canoe ODIconic303Steve Fleming      DNS 54

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