Firefly South Western Championship at Restronguet Sailing Club

Firefly South Western Championship at Restronguet © Ben Lumby & Ted Ashworth

Firefly South Western Championship at Restronguet © Ben Lumby & Ted Ashworth

Firefly South Western Championship at Restronguet © Ben Lumby & Ted Ashworth

The 52nd Firefly South Western Championships at Restronguet Sailing Club took place as usual over the Early May Bank Holiday. An impressive fleet of 40 Fireflys with sailors of all ages assembled for three days of exhilarating dinghy racing.

Day 1 saw wind blowing across Carrick Roads giving shifty and gusty conditions. In race 1 the right side mainly seemed to pay with "Grendel" (Ed Smith/Izzy Bretherton) reading the conditions well and holding off "Tip Top Too" (Nigel Wakefield/Emily Saunderson) in 2nd and "Swaggle" (Jono Pank/Freddie Pank) in 3rd. Race 2 saw a masterclass by local sailors Ben Lumby and Liz Evans sailing "Kong" smoothly edging away for the win, followed by "Mustard" (Alex and Stella Davey) and "Bonkers" (Jason Aldous and Jo Mason). This left the Daveys as overnight leaders with a 4,2 scoreline.

After the traditional curry supper and drinks at the club, day 2 saw the predicted strong breeze arrive from similar direction and this gradually built during racing to gusts of up to 29 knots which caused carnage at various times around the course. It was a day for youth with Finn Morris and Robbie Hudson sailing "Spaghetti" nailing two bullets. In Race 3, the pin was looking strong with Spaghetti banking the gain and heading back towards the middle. "Cumulus" (Steve Greaves/Jane Hudson) kept punching out to the left, eventually capitalising to lead narrowly at mark one from Finn/Robbie. This pair extended their lead and swapped positions several times before eventually Spaghetti took the lead on the final reach. "Grasshopper" (Steve Tylecote and Sally Wilson) broke free of the tight bunch behind to get 3rd. In Race 4 "Fursty Ferret" (Stuart Hudson and Gracie Joslin) placed 2nd with "Tip Top Too" 3rd. Overnight leader after 2 days remained the Daveys in "Mustard" with a consistent 4,2,5,7.

A battered fleet returned for a final day's racing in what looked like more benign conditions, but some vicious gusts prior to the warning signal gave a sign of what was to come. "Purple Doris" (Jamie Tylecote and Alice Lucy) thrived in the building conditions with great upwind and downwind pace to post 2 bullets. Race 5 started in a big left shift so starting at the pin and being able to tack straight away was helpful for a good start. The wind built as the race went on with mains ragging upwind and large shifts which were important upwind. Purple Doris was second after the first lap, but clinched the lead by playing the shifts and staying upright on the downwind leg. Behind them in Race 5 "Officer Dibble" (Angus Cook and Tash Armstrong) stormed through to 2nd with "Fursty Ferret" 3rd.

The overall points were all a bit unclear going into Race 6. Similar large shifts persisted across the course, with a big right shift at the top of beat allowing Purple Doris to get back into the race after a poor start. The downwind legs were all about staying as close to the limit without binning it in. Purple Doris managed to get into the lead whilst playing the shifts, and covered the fleet on the last 2 beats, with legs burning. "Fursty Ferret" had led Race 6 but dropped to about 6th before the last beat. Terry Hacker and Chloe Mills sailing Uni Ovi F4445 sailed a great race for 2nd. Fursty Ferret took a punt to the right on the last beat and got a big right shift to get a lucky 3rd with "Spaghetti" 4th, "Grendel" 5th and "Grasshopper" 6th. No one really knew the overall result but back onshore "Fursty Ferret" having been 7th overall the night before had ended up winning by 2 points from "Grasshopper" with 3 boats then tied for 3rd on 26 points. A memorable event in more ways than one!

Many thanks to Restronguet Sailing Club for putting on a great regatta in spectacular and challenging conditions and for their hospitality. Roll on next year!

Overall Results: