Solo South West Travellers Series Open at Teign Corinthian Yacht Club

Six visitors joined twelve local sailors for the Solo Open at TCYC which forms part of the South West Travellers Series.

Although a little warm and sunny weather was a welcome change compared to the storms of the preceding few days, the forecast with regard to wind was looking less favourable however, with a 5-6mph the most likely outcome coming from the south west.

Steve Pocock (Race Officer) assisted by Mike Commander took to the water following the briefing but as the wind failed to appear there was a half hour delay to proceedings. The wind then began to appear as predicted at around 5mph although initially from the west rather than the south west.

Teign Corinthian Solo Open - photo © Heather Davies

Three races were to be completed back to back with no discards, so all results to count.

Steve set a triangular course and got proceedings underway for race 1. The first three around the windward mark were Charlie Nunn (Torpoint Mosquito), Chris Meredith (Chew Valley) and local sailor Tim Martin, closely followed by a pack of half a dozen boats. After 3 laps Charlie took first place followed by Chris and Tim.

Teign Corinthian Solo Open - photo © Heather Davies

For Race 2 the wind had swung to south/south west and consequently was coming in over the hills surrounding the Teign Valley. Although the wind strength held up at a little over 5mph a south westerly now meant that that the wind direction would become alittle erratic over the hills. Steve made the alteration necessary to the marks and race 2 got underway. The pin end became the favoured place to be, however as so many boats were trying to get to a similar place it favoured those that took an alternative route in slightly clearer waters. After some very close racing Charlie again took first place followed this time by Steve Mitchell (Torpoint Mosquito) and Chris in third this time.

With the wind direction and strength now steady Steve kept the same mark positions for Race 3. First around the windward mark was John Steels (Starcross) following by local sailor Andy Colyer with Charlie in third, hotly pursued by 2 more local sailors Tim Martin and Malcom Davies. As with Race 2 plotting a route up the beat was not easy however the 3 front runners held their positions until the end of the race with John Steels the winner followed by Andy Colyer in second place with Charlie third.

Teign Corinthian Solo Open - photo © Heather Davies

With two firsts and a third Charlie Nunn was the overall winner, with John Steels (4,4,1) in second place and Chris Meredith (2,3,5) in third.

All 18 sailors were welcomed off the water with pasties and cake and left to reflect on what had been a very enjoyable days sailing. Competition had been tight throughout the day right the way through the fleet.

Charlie Nun wins the Teign Corinthian Solo Open - photo © Garnett Showell

The prize giving was hosted by Reg Nuttal who presented prizes to the first three placed sailors. In addition there were extra prizes for first wooden boat (Malcom Davies), and spot prizes for Tim Martin (6th place) and for David Northcott (12th place), as well as for the safety boat teams and the ladies in the galley. There was a final thank you to Steve Pocock for being an excellent Race Offer in trying conditions, and also for Garnett Showell and Heather Davies for their photography.

Overall Results: