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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:

PosBoat NameSail NoHelmCrewClubR1R2R3Pts
1st 1353DJ EdwardsVyv TownendTata and Bough Beech SC1113
2ndPlan B1234Terry CurtisPete GreigWeymouth SC2226
3rdCarpe Diem1365Dave GriffithsMaurice ClarkeTenby SC33612
4thSwiftwyn1290Martin CooneyPeter FrithPoole Y C54312
5thWaimanu1291Alex WillisNick WillisHISC46717
6thWARNING Contains Nuts.....1350Alec MamwellArthur ButlerConiston SC68418
7thRobbers Alley1363Rob BurdekinAli RaynardBlithfield SCRET5522
8thRhiannon1344Mike WilliamsMartin TossellTata Steel SC79824
9thJust Pogo1114Ros DownsDavid DownsTata Steel SC97925
10thBaker's Dozen1312Mike MurrayPam MurrayTata Steel SC8101028
11thPink Panther1225Paul BambridgeCarwyn OwenTata Steel SC10111233
12thLight n Bitter1292Paul HeatherJonathan OsgoodSWSCDNC121138
13th 1360Jason TaylorMatthew TaylorTata Steel SCDNC131341
14thJammy Dodger1348Oscar ChessDavid CharlesTata Steel SCDNCDNCDNC45

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.

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