Streaker Ramblings - Chipstead - 5th May 2013

Yet again I missed this meeting - Bett and I were on a short break coach holiday, 'up north' at Lindisfarne and Alnwick - thus the report below is written by Veronica Falat who did participate.

Chipstead SC hosted the second event of the P&B sponsored 2013 Streaker Southern Paddle series on Sunday 5^th May and provided a very warm welcome to the 8 visiting boats that came to race against the club’s only Streaker sailor. It was a joint event with the Graduate class, the 17 Grads starting 5 minutes ahead of the Streakers but in the light and fitful breeze the two fleets were generally racing as one large group. In the first race Ian Bradley and Gerry Ledger were the early leaders but eventually Ian got clear away and disappeared in amongst the Grads while Gerry was left to fight off the challenges of Steve Garrett and Veronica Falat who both overtook him on the last lap. For much of the race these boats were well clear of the rest of the fleet but as the breeze varied in speed and direction, everyone closed up before the finish and Ian Mansfield moved into 4^th spot.

  Race 2 was held after lunch but the conditions were as before – warm and sunny but the breeze still very patchy. Again Ian Bradley took the lead early on and never looked like being caught. Steve Garrett was second for a long while but Veronica squeezed past on the last beat and they finished in that order, with Gerry 4^th.
A general recall for the Graduates at the start of race 3 meant that the Streakers had the bonus of sailing in clearer air. Ian Bradley had now already won the meeting and had swapped boats with Amanda Randall who was sailing in her first Streaker event; the chance of having her boat race-tuned by the open meeting winner was not one she was going to turn down! Steve and Veronica were the front runners in the race and again Gerry was well placed in the early stages. Veronica took the win with Steve second and Ian Mansfield 3^rd, ahead of local sailor Alex Reindorp.
The light variable conditions had provided tricky racing conditions but the club ran the event extremely well. This was the first Streaker open there and hopefully it won’t be the last!  

 

	Sail No	Helm	Club	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Total Points	Nett Points
1	1817	Ian Bradley	Ouse Amateur SC	1	1	(6)	8	2
2	1654	Veronica Falat	Waveney & Oulton Broad YC	(3)	2	1	6	3
3	1807	Steve Garrett	Bough Beech SC	2	(3)	2	7	4
4	1723	Ian Mansfield	Alton Water SC	4	(6)	3	13	7
5	1819	Alex Reindorp	Chipstead SC	(6)	5	4	15	9
6	1780	Gerry Ledger	Up River SC	(5)	4	5	14	9
7	1757	Gary Hogan	Emberton Park SC	7	(8)	7	22	14
8	1828	Nick Carter	Burghfield SC	(8)	7	8	23	15
9	1439	Amanda Randall	Wilsonian SC	(9)	9	9	27	18