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Allen Brothers

Solo Open at Carsington Sailing Club

by Jonathan Swain 3 Sep 2024 06:52 BST 1 September 2024

Nigel Davies wins the joint Midlands and Northern open with Steve Dennison in 2nd and Chris Brown in 3rd.

22 boats lined up for Race 1 in a 10 knot breeze, as the gun went the breeze shut off and a pack of boats tacked of to the right to pick up the next band of wind coming down the lake giving them a significant advantage. Its was Nigel Davies, followed by Jamie Cuxson who lead round the top mark and built a commanding lead with Davies taking the win over Cuxson in 2nd and Iain Carpenter in 3rd.

In Race 2 the right hand side of the 1st beat dominated again, it was Jonathan Swain leading round the top mark with Steve Dennison a boat length behind. By the leeward mark Dennison had taken the lead but then Swain came back up the 2nd beat and almost regained the lead. Dennison retained the lead to take the win with Swain in 2nd and Ted Garner in 3rd.

It felt a little fresher in Race 3 with some stronger 15 knot gusts to optimise on. With a mix bag of results across the fleet there were a handful of people with a chance to win the event. It was Russell Short who led the race with Ted Garner in 2nd but with slightly more breeze there were gains to be made downwind.

Chris Brown who rounded the windward mark in 6th capitalised on the offhand and took the lead by the end of lap 2 which he maintained to take the race win. Behind snakes and ladders continued and as the top bunch rounded the mark Swain was in 3rd and Davies in 6th giving Swain the initial advantage of an event win. Davies went low on the final reach tacking 3 boats and crossed the line 3rd to win the event. Russell Short finished race 3 in 2nd.

1st Lady went to Alice Hyde of Carsington in a borrowed boat and considering she had never sailed a solo before she finished an impressive 9th overall but also had the most consistent low results in the top 10 across the 3 races.

Thank you for Carsington Sailing Club and team for running a good day's sailing. Thank you to the sponsors Allen and CB Coverstore.

Overall Results:

PosSail NoHelmClubR1R2R3Pts
1st6108Nigel DaviesDraycote Water1‑1034
2nd6073Stephen DenisonRYA‑13167
3rd0Chris BrownDraycote Water‑10718
4th6107Ted GarnerBudworth SC‑11358
5th5880Martin HonorOgston SC44(DNC)8
6th6055Jonathan SwainCarsington SC‑142810
7th5704Jamie CuxsonShustoke SC28‑1110
8th6014Russell ShortOgston SC‑99211
9th6855Alice HydeCarsington SC56‑711
10th6041Chris GillardSheffield Viking65(DNC)11
11th5736Iain CarpenterNorthampton SC3‑14912
12th5723Steven Bishop 8‑151018
13th5623Adam SavageElton SC‑1716420
14th5617Stephen ResallElton SC7‑181522
15th5210Neil WilkinsonChase SC‑12111223
16th5312Stuart NorrisShropshire SC16‑171329
17th5401Andrew BownesBarnt Green15‑211429
18th5979John ColgraveYorkshire Dale SC1912(DNC)31
19th5856Brian Fisher ‑22131831
20th5654Graham EllisBudworth SC18‑221735
21st5675Maria Franco FerroNorthampton SC‑21201636
22nd5671Simon DippleShustoke SC‑20191938
23rd4537Ian ShawNotts County SC(DNC)DNCDNC50
23rd4642Martin ClowesOtley SC(DNC)DNCDNC50

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