Lark Open at South Staffordshire Sailing Club

 The season opener for the Lark class in 2022 was the first of a two-day "double header" at South Staffs SC and Barnt Green SC. A quality fleet of 16 boats assembled at SSSC on the chilly Saturday morning, eagerly waiting for the forecast light breeze to fill in. OOD James Croxford wasted no time in getting us on the water for the first race at 1130.

Race one got away with a clean start in a light Easterly breeze, with a short and shifty beat to the first mark. Jonny Coate and Kate Phillips picked up some private breeze on the right which also lifted them to mark on starboard to round in the lead. The battles for places behind allowed Jonny and Kate to sail conservatively and hold their lead for the rest of the race, however a late challenge from Chris White and Ollie Goodhead on the last lap kept them on their toes right to the finish. Samuel Bailey and Finn Morgan took third to claim 1-2-3 for South Staffs.

Going into the final race it was all to play for, with any one of the top four boats in a position to take the win. Jonny and Kate were first to rule themselves out with another butchered start, so could only look on as the race played out ahead of them. Matt White and Marion Enkel put in a masterful performance to take the race win, with Samuel and Finn in second place. A battle for third place between Chris and Ollie and Stuart and Nick would prove critical to the final outcome. The two boats swapped places a couple of times but ultimately Stuart and nick just pipped Chris and Ollie right on the finish line to seal the overall win. The final scores show just how close it was in the end with all of the top three boats tied on 4 points, Jonny and Kate taking second with Chris and Ollie in third when the tie breaker was applied. Samuel and Finn just missed out on the top three with 5 points, followed closely by Matt and Marion with 6.

 In  the evening most of the fleet enjoyed a takeaway curry and drinks at the clubhouse. Round two of the "double header" would take place the following day down the road at Barnt Green SC.

Overall Results:

Pos Sail No Helm Crew R1 R2 R3 Pts

1st 2495 Stuart Hydon Nick Hydon ‑4 1 3 4

2nd 2464 Jonny Coate Kate Phillips 1 3 ‑6 4

3rd 2533 Chris White Ollie Goodhead 2 2 ‑4 4

4th 2468 Samuel Bailey Finlay Morgan 3 ‑6 2 5

5th 2471 Matt White Marion Enkel ‑9 5 1 6

6th 2529 James Goss Emma Mackey ‑6 4 5 9

7th 2523 Ed Bradburn Laura Burch 5 7 (OCS) 12

8th 2509 Stuart Allen Julia Allen ‑11 8 7 15

9th 2496 Steve Cumley Eluned Stewart 7 ‑10 9 16

10th 2489 Keith Macaulay Clare Waymont ‑12 9 8 17

11th 2537 Neil Firth Sue Firth 8 ‑14 11 19

12th 2541 Simon Cox George Cox‑Olliff 10 11 ‑13 21

13th 2532 Tony Hotchkiss Kimmy Dooner ‑13 12 10 22

14th 2539 Nigel Scott Vickie Burgess 15 ‑16 12 27

15th 2524 Mike Owen Lawrence Hartness ‑14 13 14 27

16th 2481 Andrew Ward Toby Ward ‑16 15 15 30