Blue Cloudless skies, and an
almost flat calm greeted the six entrants for this the first Streaker Open (P
& B Sponsored Sothern Area Series) to be held at Island Barn Sailing Club.
A further eight Solos arrived for the joint meeting. An Olympic style course
was set with the Streakers having the first start.
A whisper of breeze left the
small, elite, fleet struggling to get across the line until Rupert Smith
(Newhaven & Seaford) found the route and shot away from the rest.
By the
end of the first triangle Rupert had a good leg lead over Peter Withrington
(Burghfield) and Alex Reindorp (Chipstead) lying third.
After the sausage
Rupert was still in the lead but Chris Smith (Island Barn) had moved up to
second place with Alan Simmons (Lancing) lying third – the latter two gaining
as Alex and Peter went off on a second (wrong) triangle. Alan and Chris
continued to vie for second place with Alan taking the gun at the end of the
race as he closed up the gap slightly on Rupert. Peter also caught up with
Chris and got ahead to take third place. Fifth place went to Phil Hadron
(Downs) and sixth to Alex.
The second race was held (B to
B) over the same basic course, with only minor adjustment and although there
was a little more breeze there was still a crush at the committee boat end of
the line but it was Alex who got away first and holding on for the first lap.
Alan also got a reasonable start and held second place with Peter taking third
spot. Chris crossed the line in fourth place with Rupert fifth and Phil sixth.
There were no place changes at the end of each subsequent lap but the fleet was
fairly tightly bunched throughout the race – only 20 seconds between first and
second place and a further 32 seconds to third spot.
After a lunch break the
breeze was still rather fitful but the direction it was coming from had changed
by 180 degrees and so a new course had to be set with the committee boat nearer
to the clubhouse shore.
This time at the start it was Alex who got away cleanly
into first position with Peter hard on his heels and Chris holding third place
at the end of the beat. Alan who had started eventually in last place had pulled through the fleet to lead at the end of the lap with Chris lying second and Phil third. Peter was fourth after a lap with Rupert fifth and Alex sixth.
By the end of the
second lap Alan was still ahead with Peter lying second and Alex lying third.
At the end of the next windward leg Peter and Alex had overtaken Alan but
headed off on the downwind leg instead of the reach. Alan, spotting Rupert
going on the correct route, was able to recover and gain water on him at the
gybe mark and then pull away ahead once more.
Alex also passed Rupert to lie
second with Peter fourth. On the last lap and up the windward leg the breeze
was extremely fickle with lots of big holes but Alan managed to hang on to his
lead and win the race ahead of Alex with Peter third, Rupert fourth, Phil fifth
and Chris sixth.
On thanking the club, RO,
Safety boat and Galley crews for their effort Alan also thanked his competitors
for letting him win his first ever Streaker Open Meeting
Overall Results:-
Posn
|
Sail
No
|
Helm
|
Club
|
Race 1
|
Race 2
|
Race 3
|
Points
|
1
|
1700
|
Alan
Simmons
|
Lancing
|
2
|
(2)
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
1953
|
Alex
Reindorp
|
Chipstead
|
(6)
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
3
|
1681
|
Rupert
Smith
|
Newhaven
|
1
|
(6)
|
4
|
5
|
4
|
1929
|
Peter
Withrington
|
Burghfield
|
(4)
|
3
|
3
|
6
|
5
|
1844
|
Chris
Smith
|
Island
Barn
|
3
|
4
|
(6)
|
7
|
6
|
1905
|
Phil
Haldron
|
Downs
|
5
|
(6)
|
6
|
10
|
