25/03/2023
Tamworth open meeting Tamworth Sailing Club

North Sails Southern Paddle Series

by Matt Whitfield

Six visitors and two home helms arrived at Tamworth SC on the morning of Saturday 25th March to be greeted by sunshine and a good strong breeze.  It was set to be a challenging day on the water of picking the right shifts and managing the gusts.

After the usual house keeping and a quick briefing from the race officer, race one got under way around 11am.  Alan Gillard (Sheffield Viking, 1551) made it to the windward mark in first, James Dawes (Redditch SC, 1975) rounded in second with local helm Matt Whitfield (1901) just behind in third.

By the second mark, James, who went outside the islands, held a narrow lead ahead of Alan who, along with Matt, elected to go between the islands.  This had also allowed Michael Alexander (Rutland SC, 2124), Neil Firth (Banbury SC, 1977) and Dave Borrett (Beaver SC, 1864) to close on Matt, setting up a closely fought beat to the next mark.

A clash between James and Alan resulted in a 720 for the latter, dropping him back behind the chasing pack.  Neil came through to slot into second, just ahead of Matt.

Over the following laps Neil managed to pull away from Matt, catching James and taking the lead heading to the final beat.  It was James who came out on top of this close battle, taking the win in the first race narrowly from Neil in second.

Behind them, Alan and Matt had continued to battle closely, with Alan taking third and Matt fourth.  Dave was fifth ahead of second local helm Ian Whitfield (1900) in sixth, after a brief capsize early in the race, with Michael and Colin Staite (Bartley SC, 2164) both having retired from the race.

Race two got under way shortly after lunch in much the same conditions less Neil who, having trouble with is elbow, decided to sit out the rest of the days racing.

James made it to the windward mark first this time, closely followed by Alan and Matt.  By the second mark Matt had pinched the lead, spotting the breeze around the outside of the islands.  Matt, Alan and James continued to battle closely for the remainder of the race, with Matt eventually dropping to third, having called the shifts on one of the beats wrong lost him momentum.

James came out on top again to take his second win of the day ahead of Alan in second. Michael came home in fourth place ahead of Ian in fifth.  Both Dave and Colin retired having suffered tricky capsizes in the challenging conditions.

In the third and final race of the day, Alan made a clean getaway, reaching the windward mark first ahead of James, Dave, Matt, Michael and Ian.

Alan looked comfortable in first with a healthy gap over James in second, who in turn had a healthy gap ahead of Michael, Dave and Matt who were battling tightly for the remaining podium spot.  Dave dropped out of this fight on the second lap, having been caught out by a shift resulting in a capsize and ultimately retirement from the race.

As the race progressed, James managed to catch Alan, and as the pair battled, Matt was able to close the gap slightly in third, having broken away from Michael in fourth.

Eventually, James managed to take his third win of the day from Alan again in second with Matt third, Michael fourth and Ian Whitfield in fifth.

So it was James Dawes who took made a dominant start to his season with three wins to take first overall, Alan Gillard in second and Matt Whitfield in third.  Michael Alexander took the class association prize in fourth overall.

Thank you to Tamworth SC and all the volunteers for hosting the Streaker Class season opener once again, and to North Sails for their continued support of the class and the Southern Paddle Series.

Upcoming events for the Class:

• P&B Northern Paddle:             Ripon SC       15 April
• North Sails Southern Paddle:  Banbury SC   16 April

2023 Streaker National Championships entry is open!  Don't delay, book your place now and claim your early entry discount: www.streaker-class.org.uk/2023-nationals

Overall Results:

Sailed: 3, Discards: 1, To count: 2, Entries: 8, Scoring system: Appendix A