Bough Beech SC Open Icicle Series - Day 7
by Nick Marden 16 Feb 2022 01:28 PST
13 February 2022
2022 Bough Beech SC Icicle Series day 7 © Kevin Powley
"A cross between white knuckle sailing and cold-water swimming" was the verdict of one competitor in the seventh round of Bough Beech's Icicle Series on 13th February.
It was indeed again very windy with 30kt gusts, so plans to hold three back-to-back races to catch up with missed races earlier in the series were shelved for the second Sunday running. Two races were going to be more than enough for most people, with results decided by who capsized least. To their credit, 20 boats finished both races.
Unlike recent weeks, this time the SSW wind aligned well with the length of the reservoir which allowed the race team to send both fleets off on a long windward-leeward course with just a short spreader leg.
This course perfectly suited the trapeze power of George Smith's RS600 and he lapped the field to win both Conventional fleet races fairly comfortably, despite three capsizes in the first race. The victories were an additional present on his 30th birthday. Mark Lee and Sam Pygall comfortably won the Battle of the Capsized Wayfarers to come home second in the first race, and the Finn of Richard Sharp was third. A number of boats chose not to come out for the second race of the day in which Miles Vidler brought his Laser Radial/ILCA 6 home second, ahead of Sharp's consistently sailed Finn.
George Smith's results have moved him to the top of the overall standings in the conventional fleet with two Sundays to go. He will be relishing what looks like being another windy Sunday on 20th February. John Clementson's Wayfarer remains in second place and Peter Wolstenholm's Snipe stays third. The previous leader, the Warwicker/Valentine 420, was in action elsewhere this weekend, so drops to fourth place.
Chris and Niki Webber's RS200 was the stand-out boat in the asymmetric fleet with a comfortably first place and a close second place. Luke Broughton and Nicki Kane were second in the first race, while series leaders Elliot Marks and Sarah Seddon, detained by a capsize, came in third. Marks did however go on to win the second race with Mike Green and Lynn Ratcliffe's RS400 in third. In the overall standings in this fleet, the Webbers' RS200 is now close behind the Marks/Seddon 2000, while the Green/Ratcliffe RS400 moves up to third overall.
All credit to the race officers and hardworking safety teams on another tricky day.