Enterprise Open at Broadwater Sailing Club

Broadwater Enterprise Open © John Greaves & Paula Tripp

Broadwater Enterprise Open © John Greaves & Paula Tripp

Broadwater Enterprise Open © John Greaves & Paula Tripp

On Saturday 29th March, seven Enterprises arrived at Broadwater for the annual open meeting. This was a joint event with the Solo fleet. On arrival, competitors were treated to croissants, pain au chocolat and coffee, perfectly complementing the warm early spring sunshine and a gentle westerly (ish) breeze.

The first start, in a gentle breeze, ended up port biased due to the shifty winds. Westerlies are never that stable at Broadwater! Ann Jackson, crewed by Alan Skeens from Burghfield, and Martin Davies from Rugby and Daventry, sailing with Steve Swinchatt from Broadwater, made the best of the start, with Ann leading from start to finish. Martin was second holding off a late come back from Jon and Beth Dyas (Broadwater) on the last beat.

The second race started with an increase in wind strength and gusty conditions that made it difficult to judge the approach to the pin end of the start line, which was very close to shallow waters. The Race Officers, Dave Patrick and Brian Deacon, were certainly challenged by the unstable and shifting conditions.

Paul Young and Sophie Forbes from Midland took advantage of a shift and made a port flyer start work for most of the first beat until a nasty header resulted in a poor tack to let Jon and Beth round the windward mark in first place followed by Ann and Alan.

The ever-quick Ann and Alan then passed Jon and Beth and held on for the remainder of the race with Jon and Beth following in second. Meanwhile Paul and Sophie battled with Les and Alex Smith from Broadwater and Martin/Steve to take third place.

After a very pleasant lunch of chilli and baked potatoes, the fleet reassembled for race three. The wind had increased and backed during the break, necessitating a course change and the use of the club start line. Ann and Alan again led the race throughout. Martin and Steve were second but were challenged briefly by Jon and Beth. Paul and Sophie stormed up the penultimate beat to overtake Jon and Beth to take third.

Broadwater Enterprise Open - photo © John Greaves & Paula Tripp

The wind continued to increase for race four, with some pleasantly fresh gusts allowing marginal planing! Ann and Alan had clearly won the event with three race wins, however there was all to play for for second, third and fourth - Martin and Steve, Paul and Sophie and Jon and Beth could all claim the minor placings! Martin and Jon arrived at the first mark at the same time, and Jon was just able to pull ahead on the reach to mark two. However, on the short run to the third mark, Martin, Ann and Paul all closed up with Martin taking the lead. Jon managed to just get ahead on the beat to mark four and hold the lead to the finish. Martin, Ann and Paul were all having a good battle with plenty of place swapping. On the run down to the last mark, as overlaps were being sought and protected, Martin and Steve capsized in the freshening breeze, allowing Ann and Alan room to slip into second with Paul and Sophie following in third, positions they held to the finish.

Broadwater Enterprise Open - photo © John Greaves & Paula Tripp

So, after a great day's racing in sunshine and a freshening breeze, with great hospitality from the team at Broadwater, Ann and Alan were clear winners. Jon and Beth managed to claim second, followed by Martin and Steve then Paul and Sophie in fourth. Great racing was also had further down the fleet, with plenty of position changes.

Timelapse video by Andy Wheeler:

Overall Results: