Craftinsure Lark open meeting at Itchenor Sailing Club

Ed Bradburn and Holly Evans win the Craftinsure Lark open meeting at Itchenor © Tegwyn Roberts

The weekend of the 11th & 12th of October saw the Lark class descend on Itchenor once again for their annual open meeting. With the light wind forecast for the Saturday the race team sensibly decided to postpone the start and aim for a maximum of two races with four races on the Sunday when the forecast was more favourable.

Given the light winds and tidal state it was decided that windward-leeward courses would be the order of the day and the fleet, consisting primarily of pond sailors, were introduced to the principal of "walking the course" to keep a fair race course.

Race one started on a flood tide with a clean start. Having established that Itchenor was to the south of Birmingham and not North, Samuel (not Sam) Bailey and Nick Hydon wasted no time in establishing a good lead. Closely followed by Ed Bradburn and Holly Evans who despite closing the gap on multiple occasions, decided to join in with the other fleet racing and pleasure craft that was going on at the time.

At the end of the race Samuel and Nick held on to a well-deserved lead with Ed and Holly in second and Hannah Carruthers and George Bender in an excellent third.

If I am honest I can't really remember the second race but it was light and got progressively lighter as it went on with the final results being Ed and Holly in first from Samuel and Nick and Nigel Hufton and Matt Wood in third. It was decided at the end of that race that it was time for home and the fleet set off on the long wind against tide beat in a force 2.

Fortunately the race team offered the fleet a tow in much to the relief of Holly Evans who had already had enough of tacking practice after about ten tacks.

In the evening Itchenor SC put on an excellent class meal where there was much discussion about the days racing and particularly the beauty of a gate start.

Craftinsure Lark open meeting at Itchenor - photo © Tegwyn Roberts

Sunday was colder but with more wind and more headaches. The fleet set off at the earlier start time of 10:30 with sausage-triangle courses the decision.

Race one saw a tight tussle between Nigel and Matt, Samuel and Nick and Ed and Holly with Nigel and Matt taking line honours after a split on one of the runs and much place changing. Samuel and Nick took second with Ed and Holly third.

Race 4 and 5 followed a similar pattern with Ed and Holly taking first and Nigel and Matt and Samuel and Nick sharing seconds and thirds. Notable mention to Hannah and George who held onto second for much of race 4 and also to George Graham and Jess Hooker for Jess's very first capsize at the end of race 5.

By the time race 6 started the tide had now turned and was flooding in hard. The first beat saw the bulk of the fleet overlay the windward mark by some distance with a bit of assistance from Nigel and Matt, some could be seen broad reaching back down to the mark while George and Jess nipped through chuckling. At the end of the race Ed and Holly took the win with Samuel and Nick in second and Nigel and Matt in third which also made up the final placings.

A massive thank you much go out to Itchenor Sailing club for the hospitality again and also to Bruce Grant and his race team for some truly exceptional race management.

And with that comes the end of the 2025 Craftinsure Traveller Series (full results to follow), huge thanks go to all the clubs that hosted the Larks, our Sponsor Craftinsure, and of course all the participants up and down the country. Time to think of Christmas and the 2026 season!

Craftinsure Lark open meeting at Itchenor - photo © Tegwyn Roberts

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