Winder Boats Solo Northern Circuit at Ogston Sailing Club

 Seven visitors joined the five local Solos at the picturesque NE Derbyshire club Ogston Sailing Club for the seventh round of the Northern Circuit on the 11th June. A few riders gathered on the Friday night for beer and pizza washed down with a few light beers at the club bar later.

The Saturday morning dawned to a beautiful sunny day with what looked like a reasonable 10 knots SW blowing at the north end of the lake, however, following breakfast, the sailors were invited to walk to the control tower to view the SW end of the lake, which very quickly revealed the white horses and large dark grey smears on the lake, today was going to be anything but a 'nice force 1-2 sunny' regatta. A quick check of XCW confirmed the 18~20 knots gusting 26-30 from the WSW!

Principle Race Officer Byron Knott was out early to purvey the scene around the corner and came back explaining to the fleet he had set a lovely long first beat the entire length of the lake with a good downwind blast and a number of gybes in it just to keep things interesting.

The fleet returned to the club for a welcome break and an excellent lunch and light refreshments. Over lunch PRO Byron Knott polled the fleet as to whether it was going to be two races back-to-back or a break between. It was agreed to go with two races back-to-back; the worry, nay fear, was written on many faces.

Ian thanked Ogston sailing club for hosting the event and the sponsors, Winder Boats.

Overall Results:

Top Lady - Justine Davenport

Pos Sail No Helm Club R1 R2 R3 Pts

1st 5897 Ian Hopwood Nantwich 1 1 ‑6 2

2nd 6013 Stephen Dennison Yeadon 2 ‑4 1 3

3rd 5880 Martin Honnor Ogston 3 2 ‑4 5

4th 5615 Andy Carter LLSC (DNF) 3 3 6

5th 5813 Innes Armstrong Burwain 4 6 (DNF) 10

6th 6041 Chris Gillard Sheffield Viking ‑5 5 5 10

7th 4528 Simon Law Ogston (DNF) 10 2 12

8th 5513 James Morley Ulley 6 7 ‑8 13

9th 5565 Mike Heap Ogston 7 ‑8 7 14

10th 4715 Justine Davenport Burwain 8 ‑9 9 17

11th 5325 Kevan Ramsdale Ogston (DNF) 11 DNF 24

12th 5501 Nick Patrick Ogston (DNF) DNC DNC 26