10R and Marblehead Open at Frensham Pond MYG

10R and Marblehead Open at Frensham Pond © Tony Schlaeppi

There was a forecast of winds from 15 to 20mph average, with anticipated gusts up to 28mph. An exciting day was the prospect. As it transpired the winds did drop to almost nothing briefly but the strongest gusts could well have been near those anticipated. In practice the gusts were not so much cat's paws as a Lion's paw as one competitor put it.

We had a dismasting, several "sail aways" and a couple of entanglements to sort out. Not surprising really in view of the problems of control in the more extreme gusts.

Most competitors selected "A" rigs, but a few sailed with "B" or "C" rigs all day. Generally the "A" rigs were dominant, but suffered badly when gust hit them on downwind legs. Several times many boats buried their bows, and were uncontrollable for brief periods.

However, in spite this, and of some significant wind shifts the course remained substantially the same, although the starting line was adjusted several times, this was easy to achieve as an onshore post was used to define one end of the line.

Twelve races were sailed with a break for lunch, and another pause for a heavy shower while we all huddled under the large gazebo.

Both Marbleheads and 10 Raters sailed as a single fleet, which is the common practice at Frensham. Many were surprised that Roger Stollery won the first race with a Marblehead, and indeed was leading the Series at lunch lime. However David Potter, who had initially been delayed by heavy road traffic, showed near dominance at the front of the fleet with his Defector 10 Rater. David won 7 of the twelve races sailed. He was normally pushed by Roger Stollery who won 2 of the races, and Dave Andrews won the other 3 races. Roger sailed his own design UP Marblehead, and Dave sailed a 10 Rater of Diamond design. These three were in a class of their own. Roger Carter had borrowed Graham Whitehead's Slim10 10 Rater, and after he had sorted out initial winch problems started snapping at the leader's heels in the afternoon, with top 6 results in the last four races.

A special mention should go to Chris Head, who removed the receiver from his own boat and lent it together with his transmitter to Dave Andrews. This enabled Dave to sail in the Series as he had forgotten to bring his own receiver. An impressive act of sportsmanship by Chris.

After a full day on the water, having endured the testing combinations of flat calms, rain squalls and sunshine and large wind shifts, the sailors retired to the Clubhouse for a well-deserved cream tea to round off an enjoyable day.

Overall Results:

1st David Potter (Birkenhead) 10R Defector
2nd Dave Andrews (MYSA) 10R Diamond
3rd Roger Stollery (Guildford MYC) Marblehead UP
4th Phil Holliday (Datchet Water RSC) 10R Diamond
5th Roger Pearce (Frensham MYG) 10RDefector
6th Martin Crysell (Guildford MYC) Marblehead Prime Number