A small but enthusiastic fleet arrived at Yorkshire Dales to be greeted
by warm sunshine, the smell of bacon butties and perfect racing
conditions, what could be better? The facilities at YDSC are truly
superb, to get perfect weather as well was an added bonus.
The race team led by Andrew Stratton set an excellent course using all
of the significant space available and after a close start it was Andy
McKee and Natasha Baxter sailing N3529 in the lead with Howard Chadwick
and Helen Nicholson (N3356) in second place. Andy broke clear and
sailed into the distance whilst John and Allison Cheetham (N3468) and
Patrick Hamilton and James Grommett (N3502) were close behind Howard
throughout the race, also in close contention was Terry Pressdee (YDSC
Sailing Secretary) with Evette Allum in a borrowed boat (N3313) and Neil
McInnes and Rachel Dean in N3216. Andy stayed well clear to win
and with 100 yards or less to go Howard sailed into a hole letting John
Cheetham into second place and Patrick into third place.
After a splendid Yorkshire Dales lunch and a tweak to the course the
fleet were once again in hot competition although Andy, it seemed was
using his Dead Cat Bounce and wings to fly and soon opened out another
unassailable lead, this time however it was Patrick in hot pursuit in
his recently acquired Big Issue 2 with Neil and Rachel in third place.
The double bottomed boats soon took up the lead positions however but
hotly pursued by Terry Pressdee who was obviously getting to grips with
Twelve sailing very quickly! The finishing order was Andy, Patrick
and John with Terry not far behind.
For race three the OOD added an extra downwind leg in the freshening
breeze and the competition started again. Initially Andy was being
pushed hard by Patrick whilst the next group were all in close
contention for much of the race however as the race progressed Andy
opened out his lead again, John cleared the AC (single bottomed) group,
Howard pulled out on Neil after Neil picked a bad shift and N3133 now
sailed by her new owner was close behind.I can only echo Andy’s comments
in his winner’s speech, we had a fantastic days racing with perfect
conditions, excellent courses and superb food from Pam, Emily and Kate.
Our grateful thanks go to the committee and members of YDSC for hosting
an excellent meeting. Please can we come back again next year?
Overall results
|
1st
|
N3529
|
Cat in the Hat
|
Andy McKee
|
Natisha Baxter
|
2 Points
|
|
2nd
|
N3502
|
Carbonara
|
Patrick Hamilton
|
James Grommett
|
4 Points
|
|
3rd
|
N3468
|
Pillow Fight
|
John Cheetham
|
Alison Cheetham
|
5 Points
|
|
4th
|
N3356
|
Squidgy Bits
|
Howard Chadwick
|
Helen Nicholson
|
8 Points
|
|
5th
|
N3313
|
Nutmeg of Contentment
|
Terry Pressdee
|
Evette Allum
|
9 Points
|
|
6th
|
N3216
|
Twice Shy
|
Neil McInnes
|
Rachel Dean
|
11 Points
|
