Solo Open at Burwain Sailing Club

Burwain Solo Open © Georgina Denison

Innes and David battle it out during the Burwain Solo Open © Georgina Denison

Arriving for the Northern Area Solo Open Meeting at Burwain Sailing Club, sponsored by Winder Boats, another day at the picturesque lake at Burwain. We were greeted by blue skies and a light south westerly breeze, that would provide a challenging day's sailing.

The fleet of 15 (4 home boats and 11 visitors) lined up for the first race, getting away at the second attempt. Innes Armstrong led at the first mark and was never challenged, leaving a tight race for second and third between Steve Denison and Stephen Graham sailing his old wooden boat. At the finish Denison pipped Graham for second with Andy Carter making a good recovery from a bad start coming fourth.

After a nice home cooked lunch in the club, Race 2 got underway with Andy Carter leading at the first mark, and taking a comfortable win, leaving the rest of the fleet to battle it out for the minor places, a close battle between the two Steve's, Phil Barnes and Dave Winder continued throughout the race until the next beat, when up popped Innes to clinch third from Steve Denison.

It was all to play for in the last race. This time it was Dave Winder's turn to lead at the first mark, closely followed by Stephen Graham with Chris Gillard causing chaos at the mark, this allowed Dave and Stephen to pull out an unbelievable lead. The two battled it out for the whole race until the finish, with Dave pipping Stephen for first, and handing the overall win to Innes Armstrong on equal points with Steve Denison both with 4 points, and Dave Winder in third, with equal points with Andy Carter and Stephen Graham on 5 points.

Innes Armstrong wins the Burwain Solo Open - photo © Justine Davenport

The next Northern Open is at West Kirby on the 11th of May.

Overall Results: