06/04/2019
Southern Area Championships Bough Beech Sailing Club

15 Streaker sailors arrived at Bough Beech SC on the morning of Saturday 6^th April for the southern area championships. With results from the day counting not only towards the southern area championship but also the Rooster Super, P&B Southern Paddle and South East Series, the days racing was bound to be hotly contested.

Race one got under way around the usual time slot of 11:00. The first beat was closely fought between all boats, Neil Firth (1977) eventually won out, closely followed by James Dawes (2112), Duncan McDonald (2102), Ian Whitfield (1900) and Matt Whitfield (1901). The first run saw the majority of the fleet head to the left and back out to the middle of the lake, fighting closely for best position into the third mark. The biggest winners here were Neil, who with clear air was able to make the most of the left hand route to extend his lead and Benda Hoult (1975) who headed deep to the right leaping Duncan, the Whitfield’s and Ian Bradley (2121) in the process to move into third overall. The top three remained the same for the rest of the race, with Firth taking the win from Dawes in second and Hoult in third. Behind them a couple of strong beats from M.Whitfield, hoping to make up for a poor run at Tamworth the previous month, saw him claim fourth ahead of Bradley in fifth.

Race 2 was held back to back with race 1 and got away cleanly. Once again the first beat was hotly contested, this time won by Alex Reindorp (1953), followed by Firth, Dawes and M.Whitfield. For the remainder of the race the top three remained the same, with Reindrop winning ahead of Firth in second and Dawes in third. Another tight battle was being played out for fourth, this time between M.Whitfield, Mcdonald and Hoult. Coming into the second to last mark M.Whitfield had the advantage but McDonald and Hoult both passed him on the short reach to the final mark. With just a short beat to, Hoult and McDonald tacked onto starboard early and headed for the left hand side, with M.Whitfield staying on port and heading further right. This proved decisive as M.Whitfield just managed to reclaim fourth from Hoult in fifth and McDonald a very close sixth.

After a break for lunch race 3 was held in a marginally increased breeze. The first beat was yet another close affair with little to choose between Reindorp, Firth, Dawes, Hoult and M.Whitfield. Once again on the first run, much of the fleet headed left, but right paid for M.Whitfield, Hoult and Bradley, who all gained places. By the end of the second beat, M.Whitfield lead from Hoult in second with Firth a little way back in third. Hoult and Whitfield engaged in a close battle for the lead for the rest of the race, with Hoult’s downwind speed getting the better of M.Whitfield and securing her the win. Firth looked to be joining the battle, charging in on the last run before a gust caught him out and he found himself swimming, handing third to Reindorp in the process.

So it was all to play for heading for the final race of the day. Once again the fleet got away cleanly, with Hoult and M.Whitfield leading the way. There was little to choose between the pair until, close to the windward mark, a mistake from Hoult lead to a capsize and ultimately retirement. This allowed M.Whitfield to lead lap one from Dawes and Bradley. A mistake from M.Whitfield on the next beat allowed Dawes through for the lead and Bradley to close. A tight fight between Bradley and M.Whitfield allowed Dawes to pull away before Bradley managed to get the Better of M.Whitfield and close the gap to Dawes. The race finished in this order, with Dawes becoming the fourth winner in four races, Bradley second and M.Whitfield third. Alex Reindorp consolidated a strong set of results with fourth, just ahead of Rupert Smith (1681) in Fifth.

Overall this allowed James Dawes to the overall win and the Streaker Southern Area Championship for 2019 with Neil Firth second and Alex Reindorp third. Brenda Hoult claimed fourth, her win in race three breaking the tie between her and Matt Whitfield who came away with Fifth.

The Streaker Class Owners Association would like to thank Bough Beech Sailing Club for a fantastic day of well organised close racing.

Report by Matt Whitfield.