Osprey Welsh & Midlands Championship 2025 at Tata Steel Sailing Club

by David Downs 15 Apr 2025 15:10 BST 12-13 April 2025

Thirteen Ospreys attended the season opener Midland and Welsh Championship at Tata Steel Sailing Club on the weekend of April 12th and 13th.

Saturday was always going to be difficult for Race Officer Mike Radford as the Easterly winds that had brought all the good weather was due to be replaced by a Westerly and the potential of rain later in the day.

The first race was held in a shifty South Easterly. Daughter and farther team Alex and Nick Willis started off as they had finished last year with a clear win. For the afternoon the breeze dropped considerably and swung to the South. An attempt at a start resulted in a general recall and then a half hour postponement as a flat calm descended.

By 15:00 a new breeze from the West arrived and following a major course realignment the second race got under way. Shortly after the start a further shift to the North meant that those who started at the committee boat end were lifted up to the windward mark while those at the pin end found themselves on the wrong side of the shift. Richard Marshall and Antony Shaw sailing Antony's beautiful "Whitestar" 1296 led throughout while there were many place changes in the main body of the fleet.

Alex and Nick finished second to give them the overnight lead.

On Sunday a stronger and more consistent North Westerly made for much more Osprey friendly conditions. The fleet were keen to get going - too keen in fact and two general recalls later Mike dusted off his black flag and got race 3 under way. Apologies to the Solo fleet who had to wait!

Simon Brewer and Alistair Ramsden took an early lead but were reeled in by father and son team Roger and Jamie Blake who won. The latter showing no sign of pre-nuptial nerves despite our attempts at making Saturday his unofficial stag night.

Races 4 and 5 followed back-to-back in an increasing breeze favouring the bigger teams while the lightweights were starting to rake.

Terry Curtis and Peter Greig showed that they were the masters of these conditions with a second and two firsts on Sunday to become the Osprey Midland & Welsh Champions.

Roger and Jamie finished second. In third place we were pleased to welcome Ian Cadwallader to the fleet and Mike Cox back to the fleet after several years absence. The pair improving throughout the event as they got to grips with their Mark 4 Osprey.

The Osprey fleet would like to thank Tata Steel SC for putting on a great event and getting five races in difficult conditions.

The next event is at Mounts Bay SC 3rd & 4th May, for which Peter Greig promised us sunshine, Force 4 and big waves - ideal Osprey stuff.

Overall Results:

Pos	Boat	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts
1st	Plan B	1234	Terry Curtis	Peter Grieg	Castle Cove SC	2	‑3	2	1	1	6
2nd	Ghost Ship	1382	Roger Blake	Jamie Blake	Great Moor SC	‑4	4	1	3	2	10
3rd	Last Orders	1357	Ian Cadwallader	Mike Cox	Y&SC	‑11	6	4	4	3	17
4th	Warning.... Contains Nuts	1350	Alec Mamwell	Arthur Butler	Coniston SC	3	‑8	7	2	6	18
5th	Waimanu	1291	Alex Willis	Nick Willis	Hayling Island SC	1	2	8	9	(DNC)	20
6th	Lethal Waepon	1116	David VCrroll	Steve Carroll	Naivasha YC	5	‑7	5	6	4	20
7th	Jammie Dodger	1348	Oscar Chess	David Charles	Tata Steel SC	7	‑11	6	5	5	23
8th	Whitestar	1296	Richard Marshall	Antony Shaw	Magate YC	6	1	(RET)	11	RET	30
9th	Bakers Dozen	1312	Mike Murray	Pam Murray	Tata Steel SC	‑10	5	10	8	8	31
10th	Cariad Y Mor	1336	Jason Taylor	Matthew Taylor	Tata Steel SC	9	‑12	9	7	7	32
11th	Jennifer	1276	Simon Brewer	Alistair Ramsden	Mumbles YC	8	10	3	(RET)	DNC	35
12th	Just Pogo	1114	Ros Downs	David Downs	Tata Steel SC	‑12	9	12	12	9	42
13th	Rhiannon	1344	Paul BAmbridge	Carwyn Owen	Tata Steel SC	‑13	13	11	10	10	44