Comet Southern Aphelion at Littleton Sailing Club

Comet Southern Aphelion at Littleton (l-r) Ben Palmer, Aphelion winner, and Andy Dale, open winner © Norah Jaggers

Littleton SC played their joker for a great sailing day for Comets after a year away from the venue. There were 15 entrants, 4 from the host club and 11 from 10 other clubs.

We shared the water with the Solos, which worked well for both classes and the club. The wind did not look promising to start with, but soon filled in from a favoured South Westerly direction to provide an ideal force 2-3 in lovely sunshine.

Race 1 started with everyone around the pin end, with some friendly shouting and not much space. Andy Dale was first to the windward mark followed by Chris Robinson. These two pulled clear from the chasing pack, but after a few legs the cunning "old timer" Henry Jaggers closed the gap and pushed for the lead. However, as these three were concentrating on each other Eddie Pope sneaked into 2nd place. Andy was able to hold on and take the win, followed closely by Eddie then Chris. We all headed back to the club house for a tasty lunch.

Race 2 saw Ben Palmer being pushed over the line, Andy reached the first mark in the lead, but was passed by Eddie on the run and that was the last we saw of him. Andy, Chris and Henry had a great battle, though Andy pulled into a comfortable 2nd in the latter stages of the race, and Henry just held off Chris for 3rd.

Race 3 produced a change of course. With Andy and Eddie both having a one two it was down to the last race to see who would take the day. The start was once again very crowded at the pin end. Chris Robinson proved to be the master this time, judging speed and distance by nailing the start and not giving an inch. Once again Ben was pushed over and onto the mark so had to play catch up. There was confusion at the second windward mark - sometimes the leader goes the wrong way but Chris was right and rounded it to starboard as the rest of the fleet were set up for a port rounding. This focused the fleet and last second dips were needed. Chris escaped down the run and into the distance for the race win. Eddie was ahead of Andy going to the bottom mark and went high to defend his position. So the only choice for Andy was to go low for speed. This paid off and he got in front, and after all the America's Cup racing he had been watching he covered Eddie up the final beat to the finish line to take 2nd with Eddie 3rd.

Comets are popular boats for lady helms and there were 4 ladies in the fleet. Meg Warren was a very popular winner here.

Littleton is a fantastic venue and the Comets look forward to returning in 2025. This was also the final venue of the Comet's Southern Aphelion (regional series). The result here would be based on the best 3 results from the 5 regional events, and 10 helms qualified for the series by entering at least 3 events. Chris, Ben and Eddie were all in with a chance of winning the trophy, and if Eddie had finished in front of Andy in the final race at Littleton then he would have won. However, Ben was able to discard his 5th place at Littleton to triumph.

It is testament to all involved with this long-established class that we still have healthy attendance at our events (23 in 2024 including 2 championships), and are able to successfully run four regional series as well as a national series.

Overall Results: