Comet open meeting at Crawley Mariners Yacht Club
by Donal Roche 14 Sep 18:09 BST
12 September 2026
Comet open meeting at Crawley Mariners © Donal Roche
The weather forecast was looking promising, WSW 3-4, partly cloudy. The water levels at Hedgecourt Lake however were much lower than normal due to the prolonged drought so the race team set a smaller course to avoid the shallows near the edges. Twelve boats signed on for the racing, five visitors and seven home boats.
In race one, CMYC sailor, Jeff Smith led from the start and sailed an error free race to win from Simon Thompson, also CMYC, in second. Chris Robinson was third.
In the second race Jeff was too early on the short start line and had to gybe away to start on port behind much of the fleet. Now it was Eddy Pope's turn to lead the fleet round and to finish first with Simon in second and Chris in third.
By the afternoon the wind had increased with bright autumn sunshine and significant gusts which caused a few capsizes but also made for some exciting close racing. Simon led in race three and Jeff in second was unable to overtake. Chris sailed another consistent race to finish third.
In the final race Jeff established a commanding lead which he held to the finish. All in all it was a successful day for the home sailors.
Thank you to all on the race team and to the support boat crew for helping to make it such a successful and enjoyable day.
Overall Results:
| Pos. | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Points |
|---|
| 1 | 872 | Jeffrey Smith | CMYC | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | 809 | Simon Thompson | CMYC | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 3 | 377 | Eddie Pope | CSSA | 13 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 9 |
| 4 | 867 | Chris Robinson | Burghfield SC | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| 5 | 518 | Mike Thompson | CMYC | 4 | 6 | 13 | 5 | 15 |
| 6 | 532 | John Coppenhall | Hunts SC | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 15 |
| 7 | 174 | Meg Warren | Chipstead S C | 6 | 7 | 13 | 6 | 19 |
| 8 | 858 | John Steward | CMYC | 9 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 23 |
| 9 | 868 | Helen Evans | Silver Wing SC | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 24 |
| 10 | 169 | Richard Warnett | CMYC | 13 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 30 |
| 11 | 117 | Mike Smith | CMYC | 7 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 33 |
| 12 | 506 | Mike Wilson | CMYC | 13 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 37 |