Ospreys at the Weymouth Dinghy Regatta 2022

Weymouth Dinghy Regatta 2022 event organiser Rich Bowers and Osprey class winners Martin Cooney and Peter Frith © Kevin Francis

1290 makes it a Swiftwun in the weekend heat

Ten Ospreys made it down to Castle Cove for the annual dinghy regatta and were greeted by wall-to-wall sunshine and a gentle breeze for the whole weekend, in stark contrast to the previous year. Numbers were slightly down but none the less the racing would still be very competitive as is always the case in a fleet with a rich vein of talent and years of experience.

With all competitors in the safe hands of PRO Bill Barker, the wind played its part by swinging to the predicted direction in time for kick off and three races were managed efficiently by the race team with no recalls.

Setting off as second start behind the large Scorpion fleet proved interesting with the 3 minute sequence compressing the 2 fleets by the second turning mark. Apologies to those Scorpion sailors who encountered the wind shadow of doom as the Ospreys attempted to stay clear to windward with kites flying and trapezing in full effect. Soon the fleets went in different directions and focus could resume on hunting down your nearest adversary.

Clearly Martin Cooney and Peter Frith had the boat dialled in as they calmly and quietly began to disappear from the rest of the fleet. Emma Stevenson and Peter Lloyd started well and were hot on their heels with the rest of us trying to find a clear lane and some solid breeze, place changing was a regular occurrence.

Kev Francis and stand in superstar crew Jamie Blake began what would be a solid weekend of consistent results, sometimes from quite some way back but with a remarkable ability to make places up on the last beat. Others to show well on day 1 were Alastair Raynard and Rob Burdekin in their fast Mk V machine and Paul Heather and Jonathan Osgood in their trusty wooden Mk III. The day ended with some rehydration and fish and chips on the balcony with the best view around surrounded by like-minded folk.

Sunday would see some great results for the rest of the fleet, with Jo Mahy choosing the Osprey over her other mount the Scorpion working hard with event organiser Rich Bowers as crew to improve rapidly as the day progressed, likewise ex-Fireball team Keith McDonald and Andy Brittain have been beavering away to get the boat speed up over the last few events and that paid off handsomely in both races held, don't touch anything guys! Local family team Will Adler and Andy Adler enjoyed mixing it at the top of the fleet with good tactical decisions putting them in all the right places in the Mk IV Osprey.

Alex Willis and Nick Willis revelled in the light stuff and managed to claim the scalp of the eventual winners in the last race to dent the perfect score. Mick Greenland and Jerry Dixon got into plenty of good positions but alas holding on to those proved difficult especially with the busy race course and plenty of boats coming in all directions but still full respect for sticking with it.

So, a convincing win for the boys from Poole, a second impressive outing for 1290 Swiftwun, everything is shaping up to be an epic battle when the fleet converges down in Cornwall for the National Championships at Porthpean September 3rd - 6th. Along with the regular top teams there is also rumours of a few first timers with impressive CV's so it's sure going to be memorable. Why not join us and experience the Osprey difference?

The Osprey fleet would like to thank all of the organising clubs, race team, safety team, shore teams and all of the volunteers who gave up their valuable time for our sport.

Overall Results: