Please select your home edition
Edition
Vaikobi 2023 Gloves - LEADERBOARD

Enterprise Northern and Midlands Series Open at Ogston Sailing Club

by Martin Honnor & Rosie Wilson 4 May 18:46 BST 30 April 2023

On the very last day of April, dawn broke in North East Derbyshire to a warm and bright bank holiday Sunday morning.

With a perfect 12~15 knot from the very favourable Southwest, Principal Race Officer Byron Knott and his assistant race officer Phil Hind were out early to assess the conditions and set a course at the southern reaches of the lake utilising its full length for the initial beat to mark one. Meanwhile back at the clubhouse, Rosie and her excellent team were registering the competitors and organising bacon butties and tea for all. The day was starting well and certainly went on to be a great day! We welcomed 3 visitors who were joined by 12 Ogston home boats for the second event on the Northern Enterprise circuit.

Race 1 got away with a clean start first time, with local Enterprise couple Andy & Janet Gomm bossing the pin end of the slightly biassed starting line. Simon Law and Ogston Vice Commodore Natalie Smith equally flexed their sharp elbows, and together with the Gomm's were the 2 boats making a perfect start. The rest of the fleet then found themselves fighting for space! Shortly into the first beat the traditional Ogston wind shift appeared, as always, allowing Simon/Nat and Andy/Janet to get the windward mark in good first and second places. The rest of the pack was led round by another local, Martin Honnor sailing with his daughter Abigail for the first time in 4 years and leading visitor Jonathan Woodward and Oliver Mason. By the second gybe mark Jon/Oli and Martin/Abi had closed in on the leading two and with a small tête-à-tête between Andy and Simon at mark 3 the race was now between 4 teams.

By the leeward mark Martin/Abi had squeezed a small inside overlap on Andy/Janet, both inside Jon/Oli with Simon/Nat a few boat lengths behind having completed a double Salchow at mark 3. The next beat saw a great battle between these 3 with Martin/Abi leading home from the Gomm team with Jon and Oli in third. Paul Young/Lauren Morgan from Midland SC and Simon at Nat made the top 5 with our up and coming youth sailor Luke Wilshire, with his dad Mike crewing, was the first Junior.

Lunchtime arrived with Andrea putting on a great assortment of filled baguettes and a warming selection of soups, all washed down with a cup of tea and a slice of cake from the very well stocked RNLI Cake table, a tasty array of cakes provided by the Ogston cake clan.

Races 2 & 3 were planned to be back-2-back and it was looking like the course would be similar if not the same. PRO Byron, looking at one mark decided a small change to a gybe mark, that was a little more sheltered, but otherwise chose the same course.

Race 2 got off to another clean start again with a close fought first beat with the Honnor's getting round just in front of the Gomm's, Jon/Oli leading the rest of the pack in 3rd. These 3 teams would continue to do battle, with no one boat ever really getting away. All 3 of these boats finished within boat lengths of each other making for exciting finishes. Martin/Abi took a second bullet and the overall event. Andy/Janet a close 2nd and Jon/Oli 3rd. With Abi's slightly aching legs, Martin decided to take an early bath leaving the battle to commence for 2nd & 3rd overall. The race saw a couple of 'fallers at the first' caught out by some quite strong and shifting gusts, Ken McKenzie and Rosie Wilson (Ogston's Fleet captain this year) suffered a spectacular capsize at a mark but continued to finish, be it last!, regardless. A couple of rescues needed for a home boat seeing the Helm turn a white having suffered a capsize, safety returned him to dry land, retired but able to warm up!

Race 3 again was away cleanly this time with Jon/ Oli hitting the front at mark 1 followed by Andy / Janet and Paul/Lauren. This remained the standings for the first lap until Jon/Oli, who realised just at the last minute they were about to miss the Gate, crash tacked and had the well known 'jib still cleated' capsize and unfortunately had to retire. This promoted Paul/Lauren to a 2nd place, behind a strong first place race finishers and 2nd overall Andy & Janet, and a 3rd overall for Paul and Lauren. Jon/Oli were 4th overall and Simon & Nat made up the top 5 positions with Luke Wilshire in sixth and 1st Junior.

With the RNLI Cake table still open, splendidly manned by Julia MacKenzie, there were many smiling faces enjoying a welcome cup of tea or pint, depending on preference. Natalie and Rosie completed the day with the Top three boats receiving trophies and a prize-giving commenced to recognise the youths, juniors and novices who had entered the event. Paul Young from the Midlands SC gave a few words of thanks to Ogston SC on behalf of all the visitors and everyone eventually made their way home.

An incredible £108 was raised on the day for the amazing organisation that is the RNLI.

Overall Results:

PosSail NoHelmCrewClubR1R2R3Pts
1st22619Martin HonnorAbigail HonnorOgston Sailing Club11(DNS)2
2nd22418Andy GommJanet GommOgston Sailing Club‑2213
3rd22901Paul YoungLauren MorganMidland‑4426
4th23443Johnathon WoodwardOliver MasonSouth Staffs33(DNF)6
5th20356Simon LawNatalie SmithOgston Sailing Club‑5549
6th22976Luke WilshawMike WilshawOgston Sailing Club‑88311
7th22512John AyreDaisy Ross (Junior)Cornithans‑77512
8th19007Mike HeapSarah RumballOgston Sailing Club‑66612
9th22329Nick Patrick Ogston Sailing Club‑99716
10th21137Ken McKenzieRosie WilsonOgston Sailing Club10‑11818
11th22922John TurnerMaxine RedhallOgston Sailing Club1110(DNS)21
12th22754Rob HunterJohn MensforthOgston Sailing Club12(DNF)DNS27
13th23036Bryce HowardNicola SillifantOgston Sailing Club13(DNF)DNS28
14th22119Sharon KelbyJames KelbyOgston Sailing Club(DNS)DNSDNS30

Related Articles

Enterprise Scottish Championship at St Mary's Loch
Ten visitors joined five local boats, including some welcome returns Ten visitors joined five local boats for the Scottish Champiobship held at SMLSC, including 2 "oldies" of the Ent fleet- Euan Dunn & Neil Piper making a welcome return after at least 15 years away, both sailing with their daughters. Posted on 1 Sep
Salcombe Gin© SYC Regatta 2023
Immense enjoyment for everyone, both on and off the water Undoubtedly, it's an unanimous sentiment that this year's Salcombe Gin© SYC Regatta brought immense enjoyment to everyone, both on and off the water. Posted on 14 Aug
Midland Enterprise Open
Midland Area Double Chine Series Round 3 This event the third in the 2023 Enterprise Midland Area Double Chine Series was held at Midland SC on Sunday 18th June 2023. The conditions were warm and cloudy with a tricky light South Easterly breeze which was variable in both strength and direction. Posted on 27 Jun
Frensham Pond Enterprise Open
Varied wind with large shifts for the Thames Valley series event The Enterprise Open meeting on 18th June, as part of the Thames Valley aggregate trophy, was sadly not to emulate Kevin Costner's 'Field of Dreams' and saw a fleet of 5 consisting entirely of home boats although two of the crew were visitors. Posted on 22 Jun
View of a newbie at the Enterprise Nationals
Another perspective on how friendly the class is We arrived at Penzance on Friday evening, the night before the club officially opened for the event. However, Steve Sargeant had created a WhatsApp group of competitors and some PSC members, so I let them know I was coming. Posted on 14 Jun
Sunrise to Sunset at Leigh & Lowton
Second running of event very popular, and next year's date is set already On Saturday 10th June 2023 Leigh and Lowton SC hosted the second of their Sunrise to Sunset races. Now destined to become a firm fixture in the clubs busy sailing calendar, the club played hosts to teams from two visiting sailing clubs. Posted on 14 Jun
Enterprise Nationals at Penzance overall
A nail-biting finish saw three contenders all vying for the top spot The final day's racing at the Enterprise Nationals saw a nail-biting finish with three contenders all vying for the top spot. Posted on 1 Jun
Enterprise Nationals at Penzance day 3
Tim Sadler and Richard Sault hold the top spot Competitors arrived at the club to be greeted by similar conditions to Day 2 started with 15 to 16 knots easterly and everyone expected a similar scenario as before with the wind spinning and dying. Posted on 31 May
Enterprise Nationals at Penzance day 2
Race team's popularity soars by postponing in favour of cream teas After Sunday's big breeze, the fleet Monday morning looked on as the early indications were for more of the same. The stars of the day however proved to be the Penzance race team, who returned everyone to shore for a 2 hour postponement and cream tea. Posted on 30 May
Enterprise Nationals at Penzance day 1
Well, what a day that was! The fleet launched in a brisk north easterly with a long reach to the race area set well clear of the land. Our race officer Marcus made sure there was no dilly dallying going straight to a U flag for the first start, everyone cooperated. Posted on 29 May