Alton Water 2023 Fox's Chandlery & Anglian Water Frostbite Series Overall

Harry Pynn and Gemma Cook win the Alton Water Fox's Chandlery & Anglian Water Frostbite Series overall © Tim Bees

Harry Pynn and Gemma Cook win the Alton Water Fox's Chandlery & Anglian Water Frostbite Series overall © Emer Berry

It's a wrap, or wrap up might be more appropriate. The final day of the Alton Water Frostbite Series was one of the coldest, but with just enough breeze from the north-west to keep sailors moving, so the icicles couldn't form.

A trapezoid course was set, giving a beat and tight and broad reaches with a square run in between. Two races were sailed and the results speedily computed for prize-giving, so sailors could still be away at lunchtime.

It has been a fairly undramatic series weather-wise, with two windy weeks at the start, followed by several light-wind weeks and only one with no breeze at all. No Beast from the East, frozen reservoir or gales this year and, greatly appreciated by the committee boat crew, no rain.

With entry numbers at their highest since Covid hit, sailors enjoyed some very competitive racing during the series, especially the OKs and the ten-strong Cadet fleet, who were away training at Grafham Water so missed the final day, as did a few of the Fast fleet who are parents of Cadet sailors. The series entrants included a wide range of boats from ten different clubs, ranging from the Cadets and a Topper in the Slow fleet to a speedy RS300 and a strong contingent of Medium fleet boats in-between. There were also several very good-looking craft, worthy of being Dinghy Show exhibits, including a new Merlin Rocket and a state-of-the-art OK.

The ever-competitive Cadets in the Alton Water Fox's Chandlery & Anglian Water Frostbite Series - photo © Tim Bees

The series prizes were generously sponsored by Fox's Marina (thanks to Tom Stewart for organising those), supplemented by goodies from Anglian Water, thanks to Archie Hainsworth who put in a great deal of effort in organising and managing the series. The Race Officer, committee boat helpers, some of the safety boat crews and results co-ordinator are all volunteers, so it is very much a team effort.

In the end it came down to consistency and discards, with twelve out of eighteen races to count and the results changing from the penultimate week after the two races on the last day.

Winners of the series overall trophy and first in the Medium fleet, were Harry Pynn and Gemma Cook from Waldringfield Sailing Club in their Lark.

Other fleet winners were Alan Krailing and Charlotte Stewart in an RS200 (fast fleet), Rheanna Pavey in a ILCA 6/Laser Radial (ILCA fleet) and Rhona Enkel and Sophie Ringland in their Cadet (slow fleet). An endeavour prize was awarded to Noah Hughes in his Topper. Special mention goes to Rob Ford in an RS300 who completed all 18 races. The best-performing club was Waldringfield Sailing Club, with boats winning three of the four fleets and having four in the top six overall.

Still crazy during the Alton Water Fox's Chandlery & Anglian Water Frostbite Series - photo © Tim Bees

Many of the Frostbite sailors will return to their coastal clubs now, while Alton Water hosts hundreds of children on sailing courses during the summer, though racing does continue on Sundays and a midweek evening. Some exciting new sailing events are planned for the summer and we look forward to seeing even more entries for next year's Frostbite Series.

Full race results and excellent photos from Tim Bees (who has a knack of capturing sailors in ridiculous positions) and Steven Mitchell from the shore and Emer Berry from the Committee Boat, can be found on the Alton Water Frostbite Results facebook group.

Overall Results: