Comet Northern Aphelion Open at Attenborough Sailing Club
by Christine Statham 1 Jun 2025 06:11 BST
31 May 2025
The day started with perfect champagne sailing conditions. A nice steady breeze blowing down the lake in sunshine and warm conditions. We had four visitor boats and four club boats making a total of eight for the first race at 11am.
Chris lead the first race from the start closely followed by Alan and Louis, however John managed to catch up from fourth in the last couple of legs to overtake Louis and secure a third place by 12 seconds.
Race two started after lunch with a change of course, to incorporate a second beat. Chris got a really good start and made the first mark clear ahead of the fleet, leaving the rest of the fleet bunched up and in a dead patch of wind. By the end of the first lap John was second, closely followed by Alan and then Malcolm. However this was all to change when Louis went the wrong way on the course giving Nick chance to overtake and move up to fourth, along with Alan who moved up from third to second.
With the competition won already by Chris, he decided to sit this one out, along with Helen. This really put the pressure on for second place and if John could win the race he could snatch it away from Alan. Alas this wasn't to be. Louis took a strong lead at the start and with some tactics from Alan to cover John, this gave Nick and Malcom the opportunity to be placed behind Louis. However by the end of the first lap the positions had almost already been decided. Alan was gaining on Louis all the time but didn't quite make it to overtake before the end of the race.
Prizes were awarded to the top 4 and the 1st Lady:
1st: Chris Robinson (Burghfield SC)
2nd: Alan Bevar (Tata Steel SC)
3rd: Louis Mok (Attenborough SC)
4th: John Coppenhall (Hunts SC)
First Lady: Helen Marriott (Chester Sailing and Canoe Club)
A massive thank you to all the volunteers at Attenborough Sailing Club - your efforts made the day possible and memorable.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 867 | Chris Robinson | Burghfield | 1 | 1 | NC) | 2 |
| 2 | 694 | Alan Bevar | Tata Steel | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 441 | Louis Mok | Attenborough | 4 | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | 532 | John Copperhall | Hunts | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| 5 | 627 | Nick Turnbull‑Ross | Attenborough | 5 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 6 | 856 | Malcom Davidson | Attenborough | 6 | 6 | 5 | 11 |
| 7 | 633 | Helen Marriott | Chester | 7 | 7 | NC) | 14 |
| 8 | 356 | Lizzy Kay | Attenborough | 8 | NC) | NC) | 17 |