Vintage Series 2017
There is still support for the Vintage Series but it continues
to be a little thin. This is surprising as vintage N12’s are a great
option. They are good to look at, relatively inexpensive and
beautiful to sail, particularly for those of us with problem knees
and joints who just can’t entertain double bottom boats. With three
events to qualify this year there were four qualifiers. We had
reasonable fleets at Yorkshire Ouse, for the Derwent Handicap and at
Norfolk but sadly there were no vintage boats at Burghfield, Burwain
and Henley and Trent Valley was cancelled. As far as N12
vintage sailing is concerned I don’t think that we should have any
separate vintage events any more, even possibly including the
Vintage Champs. So I’m proposing that next year all the vintage
series events will be part of the normal N12 open meeting circuit
but preferably held at clubs where there are some vintage boats.
Vintage Champs 2017 The Derwent
Handicap on the Saturday 25th June was great fun and attracted six
entries. The wind was lighter and shifty for the morning race, which
was the handicap decider and then it increased after lunch for the
next two pursuit races. It’s never good to win the first race by too
much as the handicaps are based on this. With a canny finish in the
first race Phil David went on to win the event. The actual
Vintage Championships on Sunday 26th June was less well supported
possibly because the forecast was for more wind. In the event three
boats competed in a force three to four. Three races were held back
to back, in near perfect sailing conditions. Dave Peacock won all
three races, closely pursued by Phil David and Paul Turner.
This weekend continues to be our most popular event and many thanks
to Paul Turner, Janet and Kevan for all their hard work. The
numbers, however, were down again and it is possible that Foremark
Reservoir (Burton SC) may not want to host the event next year
unless we can increase the numbers to keep it viable.
Foremerk Reservoir (Burton SC) is a great venue but there are
alternatives. The Vintage Champs could be combined with a larger
open meeting or the Fun Weekend. Alternatively, I think the Vintage
Champs could again become part of the National Champs, provided that
we add to the sailing instructions the requirement to finish any
lapped boats on the same lap as the leaders finish and sweep up the
rest. This will be discussed at the next committee meeting and I
welcome any individual comments.
|