Ovington Boats K1 travellers series at Barnt Green Sailing Club

Ovington Boats K1 travellers series at Barnt Green © Karen Willetts

On arrival at Barnt Green Sailing Club, competitors were greeted by a flat, calm, mirror-like lake. However, after speaking with Race Officer Andy Bownes, he was confident there would be sufficient breeze to get racing under way.

Barnt Green always offers a warm welcome and, while competitors sipped coffee and ate bacon butties, everyone looked hopefully out towards the water. Before long, signs of a developing breeze began to appear, mainly from the south-east—slightly different from what the forecast had predicted.

Richard Sims - Ovington Boats K1 travellers series at Barnt Green - photo © Karen Willetts

Meanwhile, Ian Duke was notable by his absence. It transpired that a puncture had left him stranded on the motorway. Jeremy Hudson, in his converted AA van, sprang to the rescue and headed off to assist Ian — it must be in the van's DNA to respond to those in peril.

Following a short briefing in the clubhouse, the Race Officer set a start line at the northern end of the lake. The wind remained extremely fickle, with narrow bands of breeze drifting down the lake at random. Race 1 got under way on time and the fleet split into two groups: Jeremy Shinton headed to the right-hand side and picked up a favourable shift to build what looked like a decent lead.

Ovington Boats K1 travellers series at Barnt Green - photo © Karen Willetts

However, Andrew Wilson, Hilary King and Richard Sims, who went left, found more pressure and overhauled the boats on the clubhouse side. This group continued to extend away from the main fleet, with Andrew Wilson finishing first, Hilary King second and Richard Sims third.

As scheduled, a lunch break was taken and those involved in the motorway rescue returned and set their boats up, increasing the fleet by two. Racing resumed and the Race Officer set the start line in the middle of the lake this time, allowing more opportunities for a variety of courses. Again, the fleet got away first time and a similar wind pattern to Race 1 was present.

Ovington Boats K1 travellers series at Barnt Green - photo © Karen Willetts

This time Jeremy Hudson took a commanding lead; the fleet split up significantly and Jeremy continued on to finish first. A chaotic situation then unfolded when a following group of boats rounded the final mark in the wrong direction and had to sail back and 'unwind' themselves to complete the course, leading to multiple place changes and an extremely confusing mark rounding. The beneficiaries were Chris Swallow and Hilary King, coming in second and third respectively.

Race 3 was back-to-back and started in similar conditions to the previous two races. This time, a group of three boats managed to break away, with Hilly King leading and Jeremy Shinton and Andrew Wilson trading places behind him. The rest of the fleet were led by Jeremy Hudson. Hilary extended his lead, and Jeremy broke clear of Andrew. The final positions remained in that order.

Ovington Boats K1 travellers series at Barnt Green - photo © Karen Willetts

This meant Hilary King was first overall, having sailed three very consistent races, with Andrew Wilson second and Jeremy Hudson third. Prize-giving took place in the clubhouse and was well supported by Ovington Boats, Craftinsure and Maypole. Prizes, as always, were distributed throughout the fleet, with the 'Beat Your Predicted Place' prize won by Huw Willetts.

Thanks go to Barnt Green SC for hosting the event and RO Andy Bownes for getting three races in very difficult conditions.

Ovington Boats K1 travellers series at Barnt Green - photo © Ian Duke

Overall Results:

Ovington Boats K1 travellers series at Barnt Green - photo © Ian Duke