Miracle End of Seasons 2022 at Shustoke Sailing Club

Miracle End of Seasons 2022 © Rachel Willars

Miracle End of Seasons 2022 © Rachel Willars

12 Miracles entered their End of Season Championships hosted at Shustoke Sailing Club on the 8th and 9th October. This was one of the best turnouts of the year and it was great to see so many friendly faces on the water.

2 races were held on Saturday afternoon in a moderate breeze and lots of sunshine. Race 1 got off to a flying start, quite literally for Graham and Helen, who started on a great port end flyer! The westerly wind direction enabled a long beat up the length of the lake. Dave and Zara reached the windward mark first and a lucky puff with their smiley spinnaker up pulled them ahead of the rest of the fleet, which they managed to maintain to the end. Graham and Helen made the most of their good start and held on to second place, followed by Jon and Jessica.

It may have been the promise of the pub for dinner, or maybe we were just extra keen, but race 2 started with a general recall. After a clean start the second time around Graham and Helen had another good first beat to round the windward mark first, closely followed by Jon and Jessica and John and Kathy who all chose a similar path up the beat. On the second spinnaker leg Dave and Zara managed to pass the leading boats (was it their lucky smiley spinnaker or good helm tactics?!), leaving Jon and Jessica, Ian and Ella, and Graham and Helen to engage in a tough luffing match to the mark! Dave and Zara kept their lead to obtain another race win. Jon and Jessica came in second followed by Ian and Ella in third.

Sunday brought more challenging conditions to test the fleet; with strong gusts from over the club house that built through the day. With the shifty winds, the downwind legs were as tactical as the beats. In fact one of the more experienced sailors later said that it was some of the toughest sailing he had done!

Race 3 - Olly and Hattie showed their enthusiasm for their first Miracle open by being over the line on the start...no local favouritism shown here as they were promptly called back! Graham and Helen continued their first beat prowess with another first windward mark rounding! Jon and Jessica and Dave and Zara approached the mark next, however the wind didn't shift in their favour, forcing Jon and Jessica the wrong side of the mark. Dave and Zara tried to nip round but with the rest of the fleet coming through resulted in them having to do a couple of turns...

Wayne and Angela pulled through the fleet and built up a good lead followed by Graham and Helen and Ian and Ella. Dave and Zara made their way up the fleet to take a brief lead, before Wayne and Angela overtook them again on the final lap to take the win.

Race 4 - Revelling in the windier conditions, Wayne and Angela needed another win in Race 4 to put them in a very strong position for first place overall. Although well placed at the first mark, they lost out to Dave and Zara who, some distance behind in mid-fleet, sailed deeper on the reach overtaking the leading pack to leeward and into a lead that they never relinquished. Ian and Ella also took advantage of the leeward route to bring them up the fleet into third. There were many place changes throughout the rest of the fleet with several capsizes in the vicious gusts that kept everybody on full alert.

Miracle End of Seasons 2022 - photo © Rachel Willars

Race 5 - Dave and Zara led around the first mark and held onto their lead to the end. Points were close for second and third place overall and there was a close battle in this deciding race between Wayne and Angela, Ian and Ella, and Jon and Jessica to reach the podium. By the last lap Wayne had managed to pull in front of them until an unfortunate (but incredibly impressive!) incident on the beat where Wayne fell out the back of the boat! Angela managed to keep the boat upright whilst Wayne, keeping hold of the mainsheet, quickly pulled himself back to the boat, popped himself back in and away they went - blink and you missed it! However quick it was, it was still enough time for Ian and Ella and Jon and Jessica to pass by. Wayne and Angela managed to get back past Jon and Jessica using their spinnaker on the final leg. Nick Smith also displayed some super quick crewing by getting onto the centreboard fast enough to save him and Hannah from a full capsize!

Special mention should go to Olly and Hattie who competed in a borrowed boat having only had a couple of practices beforehand!

Thanks to the race team and galley at Shustoke for putting on a great weekend, and to all of the visitors for making the effort to travel for the final event of the season.

Overall Results: