Nine Miracles entered the Welsh Area Championships hosted at Shotwick Lake Sailing Club on the 21st and 22nd September. It was great to welcome back three visiting boats, who made a weekend of it. Shotwick is fast becoming the place to experience good fleet Miracle racing, with new members and experienced singlehanded helms looking to buy Miracles to join in the fun.
Two races were held on Saturday afternoon in a pleasant NE breeze with predominately warm, sometimes sunny conditions. Conrad was officer in charge for the weekend and set an excellent course for Saturdays races.
Sunday morning saw darker skies, the wind had picked up and veered to an ENE direction. Conrad set a course with another long beat to start.
For the last race before lunch, the dark skies delivered their much-anticipated down pour as the complete fleet took to the start. After a well-deserved lunch in the dry clubhouse, the rain stopped, and the Welsh Area final race began.
It was Jim and Jeanette who cleared the line first. The wind was getting shiftier as the fleet kept in close contact, with Mark and Paul rounding the windward buoy in first position, followed by Wayne and Angela then Dave and Zara. This time tactical manoeuvres between second and third placed boats allowed Elmo to lead the fleet although a spinnaker malfunction on the second lap meant that they had no spinnaker on the third lap and the experts were closing in fast.
Paul managed to rectify the situation, and the spinnaker flew once again on the final leg as they sailed to victory with Dave and Zara taking second over Wayne and Angela in third. An exciting end to a memorable weekend.
The prize-giving was held in the clubhouse, Josie, Shotwick Miracle organiser, thanked the Race Officers and safety crew along with all those who made the weekend a success.
Dave and Zara were the overall winners of the Welsh Area Championship, retaining their title. In second place with 6 points and winning the final race were the Shotwick crew of Mark and Paul. Third also with 6 points were visitors Wayne and Angela. Thanks to all the competitors who made this weekend special.
Overall Results:
Pos Sail No Helm Crew Club R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 Pts
1st 4026 David Turtle Zara Turtle Shotwick Lake / Shustoke ‑1 1 1 1 ‑2 3
2nd 527 Mark Nield Paul Newman Shotwick Lake ‑3 ‑3 3 2 1 6
3rd 4121 Wayne Atherton Angela Sweeney Delph 2 2 2 ‑4 ‑3 6
4th 4011 Simon Dolman Julie Dolman Shotwick Lake ‑6 4 4 3 ‑5 11
5th 4103 Dave THOMAS Shan STAPLEY Shotwick Lake ‑5 5 (RET) 5 4 14
6th 3705 Jim Young Jeanette Davies Shotwick Lake 4 ‑6 ‑6 6 6 16
7th 4108 Geoff Weir Sara Bell Shotwick Lake ‑7 7 5 7 (DNC) 19
8th 3463 Beatrice OVEREND Joe BARNES Liverpool SC ‑8 ‑8 7 8 7 22
9th 3597 Neil WALLACE Ffion Wallace Shotwick Lake 9 9 8 (DNS) (DNC) 26
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