K1 Open Meeting at Barnt Green Sailing Club

K1 Open Meeting at Barnt Green © Matthew Brown Photography

The season opener for the K1 class was held on Saturday 15th March at Barnt Green SC. The idyllic conditions and warm welcome attracted boats from as far afield as North Wales and Netley on the South Coast.

Competitors started arriving on Friday to meet up with old friends, however it was great to see new faces joining the ever growing ranks of the K1 and indeed Paul Beetham brought his beautiful new boat which had never seen water previously to join in the fun.

Saturday was a sunny but very chilly day with a fairly constant North Easterly wind of around 12 knots with gusts of around 20 knots occasionally making an appearance. The North Easterly wind allowed legendary PRO Bob Suggitt to use the full length of the pond and ably supported by Simon Morris and the rest of the race team set about briefing the competitors, but not before the very welcome bacon rolls had been consumed.

The first race was to show the pattern of the races ahead with starts being of great importance to get clear wind and be able to react quickly to the ever changing lifts up to the first mark. After the start Richard Sims together with Leighton King had clear lanes towards the pin which they exploited admirably to gain an immediate advantage. Hilly King and Jeremy Shinton were towards the committee boat end of the start line but still showing good speed with clear air so how would everyone manage the first beat.

The rest of the 17 strong fleet were very closely packed and interestingly all picking markedly different routes to the windward mark. Jeremy Hudson stayed close to the shore whilst Geoff King and Ian Duke were picking the windshifts towards the centre of the racecourse, each making progress on the leading pack.

As the leaders rounded and headed to the wing mark Leighton held a slight lead but Richard was desperately trying to get an overlap on the next mark. The ensuing luffing match allowed the chasing pack to close on the two leaders but by the leeward mark Richard had the lead closely followed by Leighton and this struggle was to be the order of the race. Further down the fleet the racing was tight as ever with place changing all the time.

It was not unusual to gain or lose three or more places on a mark rounding or making the wrong choice on the subsequent windward legs. Phil King, Simon Patterson, Jason King and Chris Swallow all showed great pace only to be caught out by the shifts changing as the cloud formations passed overhead. Ian started turning on his turbo chargers and made significant progress through the fleet and together with the two Jeremys but the leaders were long gone.

At the finish Richard took the win closely followed by Leighton and Jeremy S in third.

Barnt Green is a very civilised club and we all went in to enjoy a spot of lunch before sailing the next two races back to back.

K1 Open Meeting at Barnt Green - photo © Matthew Brown Photography

Refreshed, the fleet got ready for the second race and jostled for position on the start line trying to ensure clear lanes and not getting caught in the header which was now more prominent close to the windward mark. Richard, Leighton, and Jeremy H were first to show again towards the pin which appeared to be the favoured end of the line. Geoff, Simon, Phil and Jason had opted for the committee boat end and were making good progress so it would be interesting to see who had the advantage at the windward mark.

Further back it was great to see Martyn Emberson, Graham Blackwell and Chris all within a boat length of each other and then followed by another closely bunched group including Nick Hoskins, Alan Birch, Paul and Doug McCusker having a battle royal.

At the windward mark Leighton had a small lead over Richard with Jeremy H leading the chasing pack of six boats all very close together. I believe one of the strengths of the K1 fleet is close racing is guaranteed regardless of where you are on the racecourse and this was proving to be the case.

By the end of the first lap Leighton had a significant lead over Richard and Jeremy H, however the chasing pack had all to play for as the distance between fourth and tenth was incredibly small. Geoff seemed to have his own private gust as on the last run down he overtook the chasing pack to establish a comfortable fourth place which he was to extend and hold to the finish. At the finish Leighton had a commanding win followed by Richard and Jeremy H.

With Richard and Leighton both in a position to win the open meeting the final race would decide the champion and also the last podium place was totally up for grabs so who would triumph?

The start of the third race saw Ian nailing the start with most of the fleet opting to tack away onto port as a result of the shift at the pin end. Interestingly Richard and Leighton together with Jeremy H decided to ignore this header and continue along the shore which actually didn't seem to restrict their progress to the windward mark. Richard rounded first closely followed by Leighton, Ian, Jeremy H and Geoff. Phil, Jason and Simon were leading the chasing six or seven boats so nothing to choose between the fifth to tenth boat on the course.

The K1 class has adopted a Beat Your Predicted Place set of trophies which gives everyone the possibility of winning, as you better the place the committee have suggested you should achieve in that particular event. The sailors who better their place against the predicted place by the greatest margin wins one of the three brilliantly made trophies so all to play for throughout the fleet.

As the race progressed despite Leighton's best endeavours Richard continued to lead with Ian in third. Those three had established a small gap now to the chasing pack however with the shifts increasing still further concentration was key.

K1 Open Meeting at Barnt Green - photo © Matthew Brown Photography

At the finish Richard was a worthy winner and with that result took the Open meeting. Leighton was second and Ian third. This also proved to be the results overall but every place mattered for the rest of the fleet to secure not only the fore mentioned trophies at Barnt Green but rankings towards the other open meetings planned later in the year.

At the prize-giving Jeremy H thanked our sponsors, Maypole, Craftinsure and Ovington boats, together with all the Race team, galley team and particularly Geoff for his organisation and providing the fabulous wooden boat trophies.

K1 Open Meeting at Barnt Green - photo © Matthew Brown Photography

We look forward to Datchet Water SC as our next open event with training from Simon Hawkes on the Friday.

Overall Results:

First Barnt Green boat: Geoff King
First K1 Open Meeting: Martyn Emberson, Doug McCusker, Paul Beetham
Spot prizes were presented to: Simon Patterson, Alan Birch, Chris Swallow, Graham Blackwell

K1 Open Meeting at Barnt Green - photo © Matthew Brown Photography

K1 Open Meeting at Barnt Green - photo © Matthew Brown Photography