Sixteen WASZPs entered the Welsh Championship at Bala, rescheduled from August when a lack of wind stopped play. This time there was no shortage of breeze.
Six races were sailed on Saturday before Sunday proved too gnarly to race. The U19s dominated, taking the top four places, and Max Rawlinson won the title with four race wins from six, discarding a 4th to finish on 6 points.
Saturday
Day 1 delivered WASZP racing at its best. The race team set a NASCAR course with sprints across the lake and ran five races of 10-15 minutes each. The wind was never going to make it easy. Big gusts and equally big lulls rolled down the lake, and the breeze turned fickle near the shores, so no lead was safe until the finish.
Alex Jones set the pace early, winning races 1 and 3. Max answered by taking races 2, 4 and 5, and his 4th in race 3 was his only finish outside the top two. Thomas Dempsey was the most consistent of the chasers, with three top-three finishes. Behind them, Helena Mills Bowers was the top 7.5 rig claiming two 3rd place finishes, and Oscar Hoyle as the second 7.5 and top U17 taking a 2nd in race 5.
Sunday
The fleet launched on Sunday, but gusts of up to 37 knots, with big holes in between, made the conditions unraceable, and the race officer abandoned racing for the day. Some sailors stayed out to enjoy the pressure lines in the breeze with speed runs up and down the lake. Saturday's six races stood as the final results.
A big thank you to Bala Lake Sailing Club, the race officer and team, the safety boat crews and the volunteers ashore for some great hospitality and racing.
Top female and top 7.5 rig: Helena Mills Bowers
Top U17: Oscar Hoyle
Top Master: Ian Fitzgerald
Top Super Master: Colin Rawlinson
Overall Results:
Pos Sailor Sail No Division Rig R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 Pts
1 Max Rawlinson 2924 Junior (U19) 8.2 2 1 -4 1 1 6
2 Alex Jones 2175 Junior (U19) 8.2 1 2 1 2 -3 8
3 Thomas Dempsey 3648 Junior (U19) 8.2 3 -6 2 3 5 16
4 Helena Mills Bowers 3363 Junior (U19) 7.5 5 3 3 4 -6 21
5 Oscar Hoyle 3285 U17 7.5 7 4 9 7 2 29
6 George Spence 2905 Junior (U19) 8.2 6 -8 6 6 4 30
7 Ian Fitzgerald 2607 Master 8.2 4 8 8 -10 7 31
8 Peter Hoyle 3476 Master 8.2 9 10 -13 5 8 37
9 Sam Watson 3154 Master 8.2 12 7 7 8 (DSQ) 43
10 Jim Bowes 2729 Junior (U19) 8.2 10 -13 5 11 11 44
11 Colin Rawlinson 2436 Super Master (50+) 8.2 11 5 11 -12 9 46
12 Ben Knapper 2437 U17 7.5 8 11 10 9 10 48
13 Chris Keatley 2522 Master 8.2 (DNS) 12 12 13 13 63
14= Theo Smith 2702 Junior (U19) 8.2 DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 75
14= Tristan Harding 2700 Junior (U19) 7.5 DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 75
14= Finley Kirkby 2976 U17 6.9 DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 75
No comments:
Post a Comment