North Sails Northern Paddle Series
Rooster Super Series
Midland Series
by Neil Firth
19 Streaker sailors seized the opportunity of a breezy forecast and made the trip to Hykeham Sailing Club in Lincolnshire for the Streaker Northern Championships, a key event in both the Rooster Super Series and the North Sails Northern Paddle Series. Little did they realise that the championship would be decided after surviving 60 gybes!
Hykeham is a regular feature on the Streaker Northern and Midland circuits and, with the added cachet of the 2024 Northern Championships at stake, it attracted a good turnout.
With one race scheduled before lunch, the Race Officer directed the fleet to the western section of the reservoir where the course was set to provide a single beat, followed by five reaches and four gybes down to the leeward mark.
Race one got away cleanly - or so we thought until the rescue boat blasted across the front of the fleet announcing a general recall... much to the relief of the late-to-launch Pete Gray (Staunton Harold SC)! Needless to say, Pete then nailed the subsequent start and had the best first beat to lead at the windward mark, closely followed by Giles Therkelsen-Smith (Beaver SC) and Martin Penty (Beaver SC). The shifty and patchy 8-15 mph breeze meant that the beats provided plenty of place changes throughout the fleet. Pete avoided the snakes and extended his lead over the chasing pack. Giles held second for most of the race, but eventually succumbed to Martin who took second behind Pete.
As the fleet headed in for lunch, many were relieved that the breeze had been lighter than forecast, making the reaches and gybes entertaining, but not unduly challenging. During lunch, the breeze picked up considerably, to 15-20 mph with some strong gusts feeling like 25 mph or more. The Race Officer kept the same course and the four gybe marks provided him with much entertainment during the next two races!
In the fresher breeze, the second race got under way with Steve Hanby (Beaver SC) leading the fleet at mark one. The reach was a blast! At mark two Steve was the first of the afternoon's many gybe-mark casualties. His misfortune left Pete as the new leader, but without the benefit of the cushion he had in race one. Martin was hot on Pete's heels and, although it took a few laps, he showed his form by finding his way to the front. Pete took second place, ahead of Nigel Pepperdine (Staunton Harold SC) who recovered to take third after a tricky first beat. Elsewhere, the gusty gybes proved costly with capsizes often leaving masts pinned into the Hykeham mud. This kept the rescue team busy and brought a number of retirements from the full complement of starters.
So, the stage was now set for race 3, a championship decider between Martin and Pete. Conditions were much the same, with a reduced fleet of 13 starters ready to take on the super-gybe challenge once again; that's only 20 more gybes over 5 laps (Ed: except when you wear round, Mr Firth)!
Martin isn't prone to making mistakes, especially in a decider, and he led the fleet from the first windward mark then kept pulling away to take the race win. Pete left himself with too much to do after getting on the wrong side of a shift during the first beat. He climbed up to fourth but couldn't challenge Martin from there. Meanwhile, a tight battle for second place between Nigel, Steve and Giles would decide third place overall in the event. For a couple of laps it looked like Steve had it, but he slipped up mid-race to allow Nigel through into second, behind Martin. Steve fought back to take third as Giles retired with a broken tiller extension. Phil Priestley (Yorkshire Dales SC) and Jon Aldhous (Beaver SC), consistently the best of the rest, took fifth and sixth respectively after battling with each other for the whole race.
And with that, Martin Penty of Beaver retained the title of Streaker Northern Champion, ahead of Pete Gray and Nigel Pepperdine who were both flying the flag for Team Staunton. A worthy mention for two of our less experienced Bronze Fleet competitors who completed all three races in very challenging conditions; well done Paul Burman-Smith (Ouse Amateur SC) and Chris Godwin (Rutland SC).
Our thanks go to the Race Officer and all the Hykeham SC volunteers, on rescue and in the galley, who made this a special and memorable event. All the sailors left with huge grins on their faces and tales of screaming reaches and spectacular spills... all in a spray of Hykeham's (dyed) crystal blue water!
Next up:
- 15 June - HD Sails Southern Paddle at Waveney & Oulton Broad YC
- 16 June - Beccles ASC (very close to WOBYC)
- 6 July - North Sails Northern Paddle at Staunton Harold SC
- 12-14 July - Noble Marine Streaker National Championships at Stone SC
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