Optimist Winter Championship at Cardiff Bay Yacht Club

Nearly 160 Optimist sailors on Cardiff Bay for the Winter Championship © Alan Williams

Nearly 160 Optimist sailors from all over Britain descended on Cardiff Bay Yacht Club for the final major event of the year, the Winter Championship.

On Saturday the fleet was greeted by a cold, dampish, blustery east north easterly , coming directly from the Welsh Assembly. Race Officer ‘Stog’ set a squarish line and a longish windward leg. The day was characterised by big gusts and lulls and some significant shifts.

Saturday was run as a round robin, the fleet split into 4 flights and there were 3 races. Arran Holman from Hollowell SC dominated proceedings mastering the conditions and the pin end with 3 straight bullets. Joe Burns from Spinnaker scored 6,1,1 to have a great day and James Taylor from Burghfield also had a great day with a 2,6,2. Other notable performances came from Murray Hampshire, Fraser Woodley and Martin Wrigley. Sarah Norbury was first girl lying in 7th.

Sunday dawned fairly grey with the wind slightly lighter and more North Easterly. The fleet was split into gold and silver. The ‘Stog’, set a very long testing windward leg, the longest possible at Cardiff Bay at over 0.7 of a mile.

Gold fleet racing is much tougher and tested the starting skills of the fleet. In Race 4 Arran Holman carried on where he left off, scoring another 1st place, followed by Penarth’s, Matt Whitfield and Loch Tummel’s Jamie Calder in 3rd.

Race 5 saw another close start, with Matt Whitfield leading off up the middle. A gradual slow left shift towards the top of the beat saw those on the left lift into the windward mark on port, leaving those further right in some difficulty. Martin Wrigley (Barnt Green) held on in the strengthening breeze to take the bullet from Joe Burns, and Port Dinorwic’s Rowan Edwards in 3rd.

Going into the last race, Arran Holman, held a dominant position but Joe Burns could still win if he finished 1st and the minor places were all up for grabs.

The cloud started to rise and the wind began to soften to 3-4 knots. A number of sailors including Jenny Cropley, Jamie Calder and Max Clapp all in contention half way up the windward leg, then the wind in the middle started to drop and stronger wind filled in down the left and right. Arran Holman came across from the far left , but couldn’t cross Tom Reid from Lymington/Mudeford and Penny Guess from Bristol Corinthian. The next 30 minutes saw the a real scrap for the lead and Reid and Guess held on from Whitfield in 3rd. Burns had to discard the race so even though Arran Holman had been black flagged he deservedly took the championship.

The Silver fleet was just as competitive with Stefan Ward Chipstead/HISC scoring a 1,3,1 to win the silver fleet from Hatty Morlsey, Port Dinorwic in second and Fenella Bennett (Lymington) in 3rd. Thanks to Race Officer Adrian Stogall, the team at Cardiff Bay led by Nick Sawyer and all the parents for putting on a great event.

Sailing Secretary Phil Taylor presented the prizes.

Overall Results:

Gold Fleet
1st Arran Holman (Holowell)
2nd Joseph Burns (Spinnaker)
3rd Martin Wrigley (Barnt Green)
7th and 1st Girl, Sarah Norbury (South Staffs)

Silver Fleet
1st Stefan Ward (Chipstead/HISC)
2nd Hatty Morsely (Port Dinorwic)
3rd Fenella Bennett (Royal Lymington)