Aylesbury Sailing Club Winter Series
by Aylesbury Sailing Club 19 Mar 2007 03:59 PDT
18 March 2007
Aylesbury Sailing Club concluded its winter series this weekend. The turnout was a little low, due to a combination of early season and high winds on both weekends. With four races held over two weekends and one discard, things were going to be tight from the start.
Simon West (Laser) won the first race from Matt Stiles (Laser) with Ron Warner (Solo) third.
In the second race, both West and Stiles rounded the windward mark together, with Phil Sheppard (GP14) and Ron Warner (Solo) hot on their heels. West broke clear on the reach only to lose the advantage later by taking a dip, and allowing Sheppard to take the win followed by Stiles and West.
The following weekend saw competitors arriving at the club to be faced with a full blown gale. With most opting for coffee, it looked like just four boats would be on the start. This was reduced to three due to the GP14 of Sheppard being crewless.
With a gale now blowing and topped up by some extremely vicious gusts, Stiles (Laser) got of to a blinding start, almost rounding the windward mark before West (Laser) had crossed the start. West fought hard to reel in Stiles but just couldn’t close the gap, giving Stiles the win.
The fourth and final race saw two tired sailors heading out for a winner takes all situation. West got the better of Stiles at the start choosing to head out to the port side, but by the windward mark there was nothing to separate them. Stiles then made the most of a handling error by West to take a large lead, only to hand it back in spectacular fashion near the gybe mark. West took the advantage and with a tiring Stiles was able to clinch the win, and so the series
Special mention also to Philip Stiles (Radial) who won the junior series.