Bolton Sailing Club

The forecast rather understated the strength of the wind and it looked more like an equestrian event as hundreds of white horses raced the length of the lake on Sunday morning at Bolton SC. Both club members and travellers arrive and opted to keep their cover firmly in place and it was left to a hardy 10 to take to the water and contest the GP14 open.

A squall producing hail hindered the launch prior to the start of the first race and many missed the gun. Bill Kenyon and Chris Bowmer took the early lead but problems with their kite let Ian Platt and Chris Jolly through to first, which they never relinquished. Gary Deighan and Dale Knowles caught Bill/Chris and the two boats had their first close battle, which was to set the pattern for the day with first blood going to Bill/Chris as they took second from Gary/Dale in 3rd.

Race 2 proved to be wilder than race 1 which was wild! Gary/Dale lead at the first mark but lost the lead to Bill/Chris who subsequently sailed the wrong way around the next mark with Gary/Dale following. Gary/Dale unwound to round correctly allowing Ian/Chris through. Bill/Chris then suffered a broken kicker so forcing them ashore and removing the problem of the incorrect rounding. The first two places remained the same with battles between the Bolton club sailors behind resulting in David and Philp Briggs taking third.

Many capsizes and Ian/Chris’s unassailable lead resulted in only 5 contenders reaching the final start. The battle between Bill/Chris and Gary/Dale was now really intense with both vying second overall spot. The boats were rarely 5 boat lengths apart despite the now force 6/7 conditions. The lead swapped a number of times and with two legs to go Gary/Dale were in front but as Bill/Chris sailed up behind on the run Gary/Dale took a swim leaving Bill/Chris to finish 1st taking a well deserved second overall.

The excellently well sailed boat of the Briggs took the 4th overall spot with another 3rd in the last race and won them the Bronze fleet prize ahead of the Silver fleet winners Mike Critchley and Lindsey Bird in 5th. All credit goes to the OOD Dave Gaunt and his rescue team for an excellent days sailing in extreme conditions. Hopefully a more forgiving day will see the number of entries rise next year.

Overall Results: