Contender Open at Sandwich Bay Sailing & Water Skiing Club
by Rodger White 15 Jun 2007 01:26 PDT
9-10 June 2007
Sandwich Bay was the picturesque setting for the Contender Open Meeting on 9th and 10th June where 12 Contenders from as far afield as Bristol assembled.
In the light onshore easterly wind and N/S tide, the race officer set a fair start line with an individual recall for the over-eager Rodger White (2314). Peter Dives (707), John Browett (713) and Martin Frary (646) were in the leading bunch at the windward mark and at the leeward mark the chasing pack caught up by going low. Up the second beat, John Browett missed the gate leaving Peter Dives and Martin Frary to contest the lead, finishing in that order.
The second start was cleanly away with Peter, John and Martin battling for the lead, hotly pursued by local Alan Mollatt (1771). In the chop, the master Peter Dives seemed to have the best speed and took the gun from John Browett.
Having won the Saturday racing, it was off to Corsica for Peter. The remainder of the fleet dined on the fine club curry before retiring wearily to their tents.
Sunday dawned with the wind in the North east but with less tide to contend with. In the shifty conditions, John Browett and Martin Frary were first to the windward mark, with Tony Cook, Rodger White and Alan Mollatt in hot pursuit. Playing the shifts in exemplary fashion, John Browett took the gun from Martin Frary, while Alan Mollatt and Tony Cook passed Rodger White.
Race 4 was a carbon copy for the first two boats with Rodger White and Alan Mollatt 3rd and 4th respectively. Some start line antics between John and Martin were resolved by John escaping to lead at the windward mark in a reasonable force 3. Tony Cook arrived 2nd only to be passed on the down wind legs by Martin and Rodger. In a desperate attempt to pass John, Martin tacked out to sea and let Rodger through to second. John celebrated his new job (CEO of Dixon’s) by winning the event.
Many thanks to Sandwich Bay sailing club for their hospitality and hosting a fine event.
Overall Results:
1st 713, John Browett
2nd 646, Martin Frary
3rd 2314, Roger White
4th 1771, Alan Mollatt
5th 2359, Tony Cook
6th 673, Howard Osborne
7th 696, Tony White
8th 707, Peter Dives
9th 622, Tim Humphries
10th 637, Nigel Cureton
11th 2376, Nick Noble
12th 407, Ian Mollatt