Osprey Welsh & Midland Championships at Tata Steel Sailing Club
by Dave Griffiths 21 Apr 16:25 BST
15-16 April 2023
'DJ' Edwards and Vyv Townend win the 2023 Osprey Welsh & Midland Championships © Nick Dallimore
Over the weekend of 15th & 16th April, Tata Steel Sailing Club in South Wales hosted the first event of the 70th anniversary year of the Osprey with the Welsh and Midland Championships which was a shared event with the Solo Welsh Championships.
There was an entry of 14 boats from as far as Weymouth in the South and Coniston in the North. Unfortunately, Oscar Chess and Charlie did not make it out of Mumbles due to Oscar going down with Covid on Friday.
Competitors were greeted with Welsh sunshine and a solid Force 3 from the South West.
The first race was led by Alex and Nick Willis who crossed the fleet on port. It wasn't long before DJ Edwards & Vyv Townend took the lead and extended their lead through to the finish. Terry Curtis and Pete Greig were the leading chasers. Dave Griffiths and Maurice Clark coming in third.
The second race was led from start to finish by DJ and Vyv, with Terry and Pete breaking out from the pack. Dave and Maurice again coming in third.
In the third race DJ and Vyv again got into the lead, but were chased closely by Terry and Pete, who were clear of the chasing pack where Martin Cooney and Peter Frith came through to take third.
Saturday night was spent at the Twelve Knights Hotel, along with the Solo fleet, which was a very pleasant night catching up after the winter break.
Sunday dawned to a mirror like lake. After a postponement the wind filled in from the South East but whilst in start sequence the wind shifted and then dropped away. The only wise option was to abandon racing for the day.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Name | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | | 1353 | DJ Edwards | Vyv Townend | Tata and Bough Beech SC | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2nd | Plan B | 1234 | Terry Curtis | Pete Greig | Weymouth SC | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 3rd | Carpe Diem | 1365 | Dave Griffiths | Maurice Clarke | Tenby SC | 3 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| 4th | Swiftwyn | 1290 | Martin Cooney | Peter Frith | Poole Y C | 5 | 4 | 3 | 12 |
| 5th | Waimanu | 1291 | Alex Willis | Nick Willis | HISC | 4 | 6 | 7 | 17 |
| 6th | WARNING Contains Nuts..... | 1350 | Alec Mamwell | Arthur Butler | Coniston SC | 6 | 8 | 4 | 18 |
| 7th | Robbers Alley | 1363 | Rob Burdekin | Ali Raynard | Blithfield SC | RET | 5 | 5 | 22 |
| 8th | Rhiannon | 1344 | Mike Williams | Martin Tossell | Tata Steel SC | 7 | 9 | 8 | 24 |
| 9th | Just Pogo | 1114 | Ros Downs | David Downs | Tata Steel SC | 9 | 7 | 9 | 25 |
| 10th | Baker's Dozen | 1312 | Mike Murray | Pam Murray | Tata Steel SC | 8 | 10 | 10 | 28 |
| 11th | Pink Panther | 1225 | Paul Bambridge | Carwyn Owen | Tata Steel SC | 10 | 11 | 12 | 33 |
| 12th | Light n Bitter | 1292 | Paul Heather | Jonathan Osgood | SWSC | DNC | 12 | 11 | 38 |
| 13th | | 1360 | Jason Taylor | Matthew Taylor | Tata Steel SC | DNC | 13 | 13 | 41 |
| 14th | Jammy Dodger | 1348 | Oscar Chess | David Charles | Tata Steel SC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 45 |
At the prize giving there was also a prize for the first youth, awarded to Matthew Taylor (a real youth!) crewing for his dad Jason, sailing the class boat 1360.
The next event is the Northern tour from 30th April to 6th May visiting Kielder Water SC, Lochaber SC and Royal Tay YC.
A big thank you to Will Loy the PR guru from the Solo fleet for the video:
I think he is still recovering from his experience of a night spent at Hotel Blanco in Port Talbot.
Also a big thank you to Nick Dallimore for the gallery of photographs.