Whilst much of London was regretting over indulgence during the Christmas and the New Year celebrations, the keen sailors from Wembley Sailing Club were getting the 2022 season under way with the annual Wembley Wassail Pursuit Race on Sunday 2nd January.
A strong contingent of GP14 entrants from our neighbours at the Welsh Harp Sailing Club joined the Merlin Rockets, MRX's and Laser Standards/ILCA7's from Wembley for a pursuit race on the Welsh Harp. The fleet of twenty boats was split into roughly three groups according to the 2021 PY.
The GP14 fleet were the first starters, second to go were the Lasers with the Merlins and MRX's starting 13 minutes behind the GP14's.
Several teams were caught out by sudden 25 knot gusts which caught the unwary at the leeward mark. Duncan Salmon and Ruth Hanstater in their Merlin 3702 together with Colin Brockbank and Suzy Brough in Merlin 3790 quickly gave chase and cut through the fleet.
Body language showed just how intense the racing became as the end of the 90 minute race drew near, intense concentration in the chasing boats but none more so than in the lead boat of Mark Wolf and Charlotte Cotter from WHSC in their GP14 who had led the race from the start. However snapping at their heels right up to the finish was Paul Beard in his Laser 174486. Mark and Charlotte kept their cool and held him off to take line honours and win the coveted Wassail Cup for the second year running.
Overall Results:
Pos Helm Crew Club Class Sail No
1 Mark Wolf Carlotte Cotter Welsh Harp SC GP14 14113
2 Paul Beard Wembley SC Laser Standard 172286
3 Duncan Salmon Ruth Hanstater Wembley SC Merlin Rocket 3702
4 Colin Brockbank Suzy Brough Wembley SC Merlin Rocket 3790
5 John Curren Wembley SC Laser Standard 215933
6 Steve Cooper Quentin Drain Welsh Harp SC GP14 14151
7 Roger Wilson Welsh Harp SC Laser Standard 166571
8 William MacDonald Wembley SC Laser Standard 143513
9 Kieth Street Hannah Liptrot Welsh Harp SC GP14 13787
10 Jamie Isles Michal Szady Welsh Harp SC GP14 13299
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