Highcliffe Open Report

20 Contenders met at Highcliffe for the annual open meeting which has now turned out to be a dress rehearsal for the National Championship which will be held from 30th August to 2nd September.

Gales on Saturday meant there was no sailing and it was all to sail for on the Sunday. The day started with a light Southerly. Graham Scott, Stu Jones and Mike Murley headed off right and rounded in that order, which remained until the final run when Gary Langdown sneaked into 3rd. Murley lead from start to finish in the next race with a tight group just behind, with Pete Dives and Ed Presley taking 2nd and 3rd.

At the start of race 3 the wind backed to the east and was spotted by Martin Jones who showed how to deliver a port tack flyer at the line. Meanwhile Murley demonstrated how not to round the windward mark by hitting it twice and going from 3rd to 3rd from last. But the star for this race was Roger White who had been hiding mid-fleet up until now. Roger worked his way to the front in the dying breeze to take first place from Dives and Dan Taylor.

By the start of race 4 no-one had a clue who was leading overall with so many inconsistent results.  Even now I can't work it out. In the end it didn't matter because Roger did it again, leading throughout to take a deserved win and overall first place. Second overall, yes that's second overall, was Stu Jones, followed by Scott and Murley in 4th. All prizes were generously provided by the BCA sponsor Craftinsure.

Race Office, Paul Walker, and his team did a fine job getting in 4 races in tricky conditions. Roll on August and the Nationals.

Overall Results: