By Keith Roberts.
Bolton Sailing Club hosted the Supernova Open on Saturday 26th April with18 boats taking part in the competition. The weather lived up to the forecast of overcast conditions and a shifty F3 South Westerly wind. There were 8 home boats with 10 other competitors travelling from as a far afield as Northumberland, Midlands and the south.
In the 1st race there was a tight battle at the front of the fleet between Mike Gibson (Bartley) and Tony Critchley (Bolton). Whilst Mike was quicker on the downwind legs Tony had the advantage upwind. The lead changed several times between Gibson and Critchley. However, Critchley lost out to Gibson with Dave Everett (Severn SC) taking third and Ian Moodie (Bolton) in fourth place.
After lunch the wind had moderated slightly. In the 2nd race, the OOD decided to use almost all the marks on the lake which lead to the entire fleet having close racing. Mike Gibson was first to the windward mark followed by Critchley, Everett and Hawley with all four changing places several times. Critchley was eventually overtaken by Chris Hawley and pulled away from the fleet with Hawley having a well deserved win, Critchley second and Moodie third. Unfortunately for Mike Gibson he missed out the wing mark and was classified DNF.
By the time the 3rd race started the wind had dropped to a gentle breeze. The race was dominated by Tony Critchley who led from start to finish followed by Mike Gibson and Chris Hawley who battled to third.
Tony commented that based on his performance today in 525 the Giles’ boats are still competitive.
The overall results:
1st Supernova North Star 525 Tony Critchley Bolton SC
2nd Supernova Mid-Life Crisis 687 Mike Gibson Bartley
3rd Supernova Cloud Nine 575 Chris Hawley Severn SC
4th Supernova Ataxic 411 Ian Moodie Bolton SC
5th Supernova 622 David Everett West Oxon
