Streaker End of Season Championships at Beaver Sailing Club

by Neil Firth 25 Oct 2024 19:34 BST 19-20 October 2024

A bumper 2024 Streaker season was wrapped up in style at Beaver Sailing Club with 31 boats contesting the End of Season Championships which was also the conclusion of two major series - the Rooster Super Series and the North Sails Northern Paddle Series.

Despite the damp and windless start to the day, there was a decent forecast and the car park was buzzing with the anticipation of some competitive racing against Beaver's Streaker hot-shots.

At the briefing, Race Officer Dave Nicklin outlined the 'inverted P' course, including a gate at the leeward mark which offered some interesting tactical options throughout the day in the shifting and patchy breeze.

Race 1 got away bang on time with the gentle breeze showing signs of building... in places! Ian Priest (Ripon SC) made the best of the first beat to lead around the windward mark, closely followed by Martin Penty (Beaver SC), Giles Therkelson-Smith (Beaver SC) and Veronica Falat (WOBYC). Ian couldn't quite keep pace with the other three over the subsequent laps, leaving Giles to capitalise after overtaking Martin on the first downwind. Giles held on to take the win ahead of Martin, second, and Veronica, third.

Race 2 saw a General Recall with a blanket of boats attempting to start at the heavily favoured Committee Boat end. The race got away cleanly at the second attempt (under black flag) with Martin finding another gear in the stronger breeze to break free up the first beat. He led from start to finish leaving a tussle for the minor places between Giles, Alan Bishop (Girton SC) and Steve Hanby (Beaver SC). Giles eventually took second with Steve Blackburn (West Lancs YC/Leigh & Lowton SC) coming through in the later stages to take third.

There was another General Recall at the start of race 3 with several BFDs at the subsequent restart. Steve B kept his nose clean and popped out in front at the windward mark, ahead of Martin and Veronica. Giles was also in the mix once again, as was Sam MacKay (Swarkestone SC), unaware of his BFD. As the race progressed, Martin pulled through to take the lead and the race win. Veronica looked to have got the better of Steve B for second until he snuck back past at the final mark.

Going into the final race, Martin was in pole position for the event win but Giles was still in contention, although he would need another bullet to sneak the title on countback.

Race 4 saw Alan tacking out to the right off the start and coming in on the starboard lay line with a decent lead. Martin led the chasers, closely followed by Giles and Steve H. Alan extended his lead over the course of the race to take the win, with Martin narrowing the gap in the final stages to take second. Giles held on to third, despite the valiant efforts of the late charging Dave Borrett (Beaver SC) who came through on the final lap to take fourth.

So, overall, Martin Penty had done enough to keep young pretender Giles Therkelson-Smith in his place - for now! The event finished with Martin taking first place and the coveted Freddy Bear Trophy. Giles was second and Steve Blackburn third.

Beaver SC were fitting hosts for an event which proved to be a true celebration of a great Streaker season. The catering team, led by Helen Penty, laid on a hearty 2-course lunch in the middle of the day as well as tea and cakes at the prize-giving. Stuart Burnett also made sure that all 31 sailors took home a prize and, all in all, we couldn't have been made more welcome. Thank you Beaver SC!

The day was rounded up with prize draws held for two brand new Streaker sails. Ian Whitfield (Tamworth SC) won an HD sail for competing in the HD Sails Southern Paddle Series and Paul Burman-Smith (Ouse Amateur SC) won a North sail for competing in the North Sails Northern Paddle Series. Well done Ian and Paul!

Overall Results:

Pos	Helm	Sail No	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	Pts
1	Martin Penty	2192	Beaver SC	-2	1	1	2	4
2	Giles Therkelson-Smith	1982	Beaver SC	1	2	-4	3	6
3	Steve Blackburn	1942	WLYC/Leigh & Lowton SC	6	3	2	-7	11
4	Alan Bishop	2198	Girton SC	7	4	(BFD)	1	12
5	Veronica Falat	1972	WOBYC	3	7	3	(DNC)	13
6	Ian Priest	2106	Ripon SC	5	9	6	-15	20
7	Dave Borrett	1864	Beaver SC	8	-11	10	4	22
8	Neil Firth	1977	Banbury SC	4	14	-19	5	23
9	Phil Priestley	1700	Yorkshire Dales SC	10	-12	5	10	25
10	Sam McKay	2176	Swarkestone SC	13	6	(BFD)	8	27
11	Jon Aldhous	2115	Beaver SC	11	8	9	-13	28
12	James Dawes	1975	Redditch SC	-25	10	8	14	32
13	Peter Kitchen	1914	Tees & Hartlepool YC	9	15	-21	9	33
14	Steve Hanby	2162	Beaver SC	(DNF)	5	BFD	6	43
15	Stuart Burnett	2194	Beaver SC	-20	18	7	18	43
16	James Walker	1635	Isle of Man YC	15	17	11	-21	43
17	Ben Dennis-Smither	1703	Beaver SC	14	-24	17	12	43
18	Chris Smith	2132	Island Barn RSC	-21	16	13	16	45
19	Katie Masterson	2112	St Mary's Loch SC	16	20	(BFD)	11	47
20	Peter Cogill	1683	Rotherham SC	17	13	18	-26	48
21	James Adair	2187	Hykeham SC	19	-28	12	22	53
22	Richard Brameld	1654	Beaver SC	12	19	23	-24	54
23	Bob Towler	2105	Beaver SC	-29	21	15	20	56
24	Tim Bell	2170	Beaver SC	-22	22	20	17	59
25	Peter Tyerman	2138	Pennine SC	-30	23	14	23	60
26	Chris Godwin	2160	Rutland SC	23	-30	22	19	64
27	Brian Kelly	1995	Beaver SC	18	-27	26	25	69
28	Oliver Gabbitas	1515	York SC/Beaver SC	28	26	16	(DNC)	70
29	Chris Snowden	1593	Beaver SC	26	25	24	(DNC)	75
30	Nicole Ruehmann	1552	Beaver SC	27	29	25	(DNF)	81
31	Lianne Therkelson	2104	Beaver SC	24	(DNF)	DNC	DNC	88