Lightning368 Open Meeting at Wigan Sailing Club

After missing out Wigan in the Travellers Series last year, the weather at Wigan decided to co-operate somewhat better than at other Opens so far this year. Conditions were near perfect with a warm day and westerley winds averaging 8 or 9 knots but with testing gusts from various directions of up to 15 knots or so. Paul Cavanagh, Mal Hartland and Mike Lockyer (the last winner here) travelled from distant Bolton SC to join Don Appleton and Graham Smith, the two locals.

A committee boat start was set for all three races in order to give a long initial beat from 3 to 10. This worked well, even with a few handicap boats contesting a separate 'Ladies Day' Trophy and there was little congestion on the course at the marks.

In the first race, Hartland and Smith made good starts, leaving Lockyer in the perfect place on the start line, but stalled in the gusty conditions. Hartland was the first to the windward mark and made the most of the clear wind to lead to the finish. Lockyer caught up with Smith, who was finding the gusts tricky to manage but was faster in the lulls. Places swapped several times before Smith got trapped at the Windward mark by several of the handicap fleet. Lockyer made the most of the assistance and pulled clear into second. In the meantime, Appleton had been threatening to catch up from a poor start but then followed the example of Cavanagh by capsizing on the run.

The second race started in similar, if a little bit stronger conditions. Cavanagh experimented with starting upside down, but proved it wasn't a fast ploy. again, Smith, Lockyer and Hartland got away in close company but this time it was Smith who read the shifts better and turned the windward mark close ahead of Lockyer and Hartland. A 360 penalty at the third mark let Lockyer through and then Hartland changed gear to go passed both Smith on the beat. He was unable to catch up with Lockyer who took a clear win followed by Hartland, Smith and Appleton.

The third race would be the decider between Lockyer and Hartland. Conditions were much less gusty with a steadier 10 knot breeze. Another close start saw Hartland in the best position closely covering both Smith and Lockyer. Smith crept ahead of Lockyer only to lose the advantage by following the wrong side of two consecutive shifts. This put Hartland in the clear with Lockyer not too far behind and Smith playing catch-up. In the Third lap, Smith saw a new wind direction starting up and used it to full advantage to get passed Lockyer and close up on Hartland. While both Lockyer and Smith were closing on Hartland rapidly on the last lap, he held onto first place to take the overall winner, and Smith held a clear gap on Lockyer to take second in the race followed by Lockyer in third, which was good enough to give Lockyer second overall.

Overall Results: