ILCA Northern Championship at Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club

ILCA Northern Championship at Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club © Andy Dawson

ILCA Northern Championship at Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club © Andy Dawson

The Northern ILCA circuit held the Northern Championship at Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club on the weekend of 30th and 31st August. The event was hosted as part of the club's regatta weekend, sharing the water with Solutions, Wayfarers and a mixture of club boats.

Strong, gusty winds from the south meant the courses were challenging, with the windward mark tucked up next to the clubhouse which made it a spectator sport with a number of the fleet taking up open water swimming,

The first race got under way under a darkening sky and an increase in wind speed. The fleet got away cleanly and battled towards the clubhouse. The first beat quickly sorted out the fleet, although a chaotic mark rounding with boats arriving at the mark from some very strange angles and lots of avoiding actions to prevent incidents with capsized boats. The fleet poured around onto the first reach and then proceeded to race around the course. The conditions meant there was no respite, with someone ready to pounce the moment someone ahead ran into issues.

Tim Keighley (West Riding) finally broke away to take the win on the water, but was closely followed by Ian Jones (Doverstones) and Lewis Bacon (Leigh & Lowton), sailing an ILCA6.

The second race followed quickly, with Ian taking the win on the water, closely followed by Lewis less than a minute behind. After two hours on the water the fleet headed to shore for pasta and cake before heading back out for a final showdown.

Race 3 was won by Ian on the water, followed by Tim but neither of them could shake Lewis, who came across the line to win on handicap by less than 20 seconds.

The ILCA6 fleet was extremely competitive across the fleet, with youth sailors Billy Morris (Delph SC) and Ava Harris-Scott (Elton SC) delivering some strong results.

Day 2 started with sunshine, but a more challenging forecast from the same direction. The fleet set off to the start line with less sailors, a number of who had decided that one day was enough. Those who did race experienced a change of course, with reach across the full length of Pennington Flash, in the gusty conditions the fleet stretched out quickly across the 45 minute races although everyone had someone close to them to race against.

6 races were held across the weekend, with local talent Lewis Bacon, sailing an ILCA6, showing some excellent skills keeping his boat upright and moving quickly all weekend, with 4 bullets (on handicap).

Prize giving saw Lewis Bacon taking the overall win and first ILCA6, with Ian Jones taking the ILCA7 prize and Lilly Brown (Delph SC) taking the ILCA4 win. The winners took away the club prizes of wine and chocolate and new sailing kit from circuit sponsor Performance Sailcraft. Will Dyson won the tally prize of a new foil bag.

Next event is at Winsford Flash on 20th September, followed by Elton on 27th September with the series finale at Dovestones on 12th October. The Dovestones event will be the series prize-giving with a range of ILCA kit from sponsor Performance Sailcraft.

Overall Results: