Craftinsure Supernova Open at Bartley Sailing Club

by Chris Hawley 29 Mar 2024 14:18 GMT 23 March 2024

Bartley Sailing Club was delighted to welcome the Supernova Class for the Craftinsure combined northern and southern travellers event. With it being spring we all expected pleasant warm conditions and a bit of sunshine, how wrong we were - strong winds, monster gusts, hail and a chilly 5 degree temperature.

The forecast had dampened entries somewhat and a number of regulars had conflicting commitments. Despite this 33 helms signed on, most boats were able to sail in at least 2 races.

Race 1

Despite Mark Hartley saying he hadn't sailed in ages, this didn't stop him getting a great start, but we wasn't alone and a small fleet was hot on his heels. With a bit of confusion on the correct rounding of the leeward mark, it was local boat Steve Hawley that took full advantage popping out into the lead. Tom White pushed Steve all the way to the end, with Chris Hawley and Matt Williams jostling behind. In the end Matt stormed the final reach and slipped past White at the line. In the end it was Steve then Matt then Tom.

Race 2

With the wind picking up and hail filling up the boats, this was not going to be a pleasant affair. Mark, Alex Reeve, Matt and Sean Ricketts got away well, with Chris Aubery (Chris was sailing his mark 1 showed that the older boats are still very competitive). Towards the end of the race the fleet split with some confusion on the final mark. This time it was Tom who saw the opportunity to grab the win closely followed by Matt Thursfield then Steve.

Race 3

All was to play for with 4 helms in contention. Tom and Steve both a had a 1 & 3, and both Matt's had 2nds. It was Bolton sailor and regular traveller Andy Flitcroft who made a flying start, but unfortunately for him managed to get a bit lost which eroded his lead. As the wind built Tom was sailing very well and had been leading, but Matt showed just how good he is when the wind picks up and worked his way into the lead. Matt took line honours followed by White. Meanwhile Steve had been keeping in touch but was flagging, this wasn't the case for local sailor Tom Williams who worked the right side of the final beat to squeeze across the line just ahead of Steve.

It has been a very hard day on the water with gusts, veering winds and a mix of freezing conditions and sunshine. Despite the conditions the racing was as hot as ever with no margin for error regardless of where you were in the fleet. It was a tie for 1 st place, both on 3 points, with 3rd on 4 points, so it was clearly very close, however it was Matt Thursfield from Chelmarsh who proved to be the worthy winner.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	Fleet	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1st	1302	Matt Thursfield	Chelmarsh	Platinum	‑7	2	1	3
2nd	1337	Tom White	Olton Mere	Gold	‑3	1	2	3
3rd	1263	Steve Hawley	Bartley	Platinum	1	3	‑4	4
4th	1248	Matt Williams	Cotswold	Platinum	2	‑10	8	10
5th	1280	Mark Hartley	Blithfield	Platinum	6	4	‑7	10
6th	1207	Sean Ricketts	Bartley	Gold	5	‑13.5	6	11
7th	1333	Chris Hawley	Bartley	Platinum	4	8	‑9	12
8th	1095	Tom Williams	Bartley	Bronze	10	‑15	3	13
9th	1201	Chris Williams	Cotswold	Gold	8	‑11.5	5	13
10th	1344	Alex Reeve	Cotswold	Platinum	9	5	(DNF)	14
11th	709	Chris Aubrey	Bolton	Silver	11	6	(DNF)	17
12th	1184	Garry Butterfield	Bartley	Silver	‑13	7	11	18
13th	1162	Oliver Crocker	Cotswold	Silver	‑16	11.5	10	21.5
14th	1267	Jeremy Higson	Bartley	Gold	14	9	(DNF)	23
15th	1264	Andrew Flitcroft	Bolton	Gold	12	‑16	12	24
16th	1120	Duncan Cheshire	Winsofrd Flash	Bronze	‑15	13.5	13	26.5
17th	1256	Paul Burton	Girton	Bronze	‑18	17	14	31
18th	1234	Nick Whiles	Girton	Silver	17	(DNF)	15	32
19th	1074	Richard Williams	Bartley	Bronze	‑21	19	17	36
20th	1171	Mark Meadows	Teesdale	Silver	19	18	(DNC)	37
21st	1305	Stuart Stephen	Bartley	Bronze	23	(DNF)	16	39
22nd	1021	Dan Boddice	Bartley	Bronze	‑25	21	18	39
23rd	698	Charles Felgate	Cardiff Bay	Bronze	24	20	(DNC)	44
24th	1228	Steve Jellicoe	Olton Mere	Bronze	20	(DNF)	DNC	54
25th	1180	Dave Stephen	Bartley	Silver	(DNF)	22	DNC	56
26th	1099	Peter Housley	Swarestone	Bronze	22	(DNF)	DNC	56
27th	1241	Frank Lafferty	Winsford Flash	Bronze	26	(DNF)	DNC	60
28th	1045	Dave Pennock	Bartley	Bronze	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	68
28th	1203	Steve Johnson	Cotswold	Silver	(DNF)	DNC	DNC	68
28th	1124	Colin Ricketts	Bartley	Bronze	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	68
28th	1309	Serena Stewardson	Emberton Park	Bronze	(DNF)	DNC	DNC	68
28th	1269	James Paterson	Bartley	Bronze	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	68
28th	1254	Tony Bleasdale	Girton	Silver	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	68