Fireball Open at Harlow (Blackwater) Sailing Club
by Terri Sharman 1 Aug 2009 14:43 PDT
25-26 July 2009
HBSC held a successful Fireball Open on 25/26 July with a total of 16 entries.
For the first day the conditions started off light and variable with a slightly stronger breeze kicking in later in the day. The fleet were taken out in the main river for committee boat starts and some good courses were set. There was some extremely tight racing in the 1st race with the lead being held by team Fry and McCarthy. However, with local boat (Scarth/King) staying on a longer port tack and with some favourable shifts, it was Scarth who took the lead and held it for the rest of the race followed by fellow Blackwater sailors, team Richards, with Mark and Dawn Maskell coming in 3rd.
In Race 2 a poor first beat left Scarth and King well down the fleet but they managed to recover to 3rd behind Mark and Dawn Maskell (2nd) and Al Fry and Shane McCarthy (1st).
A force 5 kicked in for the first race on Sunday and the Committee boat set some fine courses which gave way for some great reaching and long beats off Osea Island. Race 3 saw a textbook port tack start from Mansfield/Sanderson which gave them the lead at the first mark. However, it was Fry and McCarthy who then took the lead on the run to Steeple followed by Scarth and Richards.
Gambling to carry the kite failed to pay off for Fry and McCarthy which allowed Scarth/King to take the lead at the next mark. After some exciting close racing the final beat saw the Maskells chasing hard but it was eventually Scarth who won the race, Maskells in 2nd with Richards in 3rd .
Scarth and King were leading at the windward mark in Race 4 when unfortunately a trapeze line pulled out of the mast and they were capsized for some time. Close racing took place between Islin/Batt and Richards/Riley for 2nd and 3rd place respectively with Fry and McCarthy taking their 2nd win of the weekend.
The prizegiving saw prizes awarded to the first five places presented by the Commodore, Ian Henderson, and his wife.
Results
1st Martin Scarth / Tony King - Blackwater SC
2nd Al Fry / Shane McCarthy - King George SC
3rd Maria Richards / Tim Riley - Blackwater SC
4th Mark Maskell / Dawn Maskell - King George SC
5th Richard Mansfield / Graham Sanderson - Brightlingsea SC