Blithfield Barrel 2022/23 - Week 1
by Ted Kucaba 16 Nov 2022 10:17 PST
13 November 2022 - 12 February 2023
First weekend of the Blithfield Barrel 2022/23 © Alastair N C Reid
A wonderful sunny day was forecast for this weekends start of the 2022/23
Blithfield Barrel winter series, held on Blithfield Reservoir in Staffordshire, with
full sun from 10am and a moderate breeze F3-5 (9knots gusting 20knots) from the
South East, with balmy temperatures, for November, of 13-16C.
But it did not turn
out that way, with the murky, damp and cold conditions hanging on for most of the
day, with the sun finally breaking through on the final leg of race 2, with the
inevitable drop of in the wind speed.
However, the promise of great sailing conditions tempted out a large contingent
from the Midlands area and beyond with 38 boats finally taking to the water for
the start of race 1 at 12 noon, after observing a 2 minute silent contemplation at
11am joining the nation in the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph.
The OD started the countdown at 11:55 for a 12:00 start, with a course of
Y14375Line, but with almost half the fleet over the line down at the pin end, a
general recall was necessary followed by a Black flag restart, after which
everyone behaved perfectly and race 1 started at 12:15, with the wind picking up
slightly, enabling the leading trio to lap in 20 minutes.
Richard and Mark Hartley in
Osprey 1381 went round the windward mark first and kept Ian Macdonald and Jon
Gibbons in Osprey 1285 and Andy Couch in Phantom 1456 at bay all round the
course with Richard looking a bit worried occasionally as the old wooden pastel
green Osprey crept up to his transom at times.
Last year's overall winner Mike
Senior and Ollie Goodhead in their 30 year old wooden GP14 finished a respectable
5th with better results sure to follow. A lull in the wind on the last leg meant a
hasty lunch for the tailenders and OD/Safety team and race 2 was announced to
start at 14:15.
Race 2 finally started at 14:20 after waiting for the fleet to get to the start line in
the vicinity of mark 4, with continued murky conditions and the sun being held
back by thick cloud and still decidedly chilly.
The OD decided on a change of
course due to the dropping wind, missing out the leg to 1 by the clubhouse and
substituting mark 8, making it a slightly shorter course and a good spinnaker leg
for the 2 man boats.
The OD decided to go straight to the Black flag so not to
waste time on another restart and the fleet drifted down to the pin end yet again
and Chris Martin in his Scorpion running out of water at the pin went for the line
with 3 seconds to go hoping to be shielded from the OD but to no avail and they
went back to the clubhouse for an early shower.
Ian Macdonald was watching
Richard Hartley closely at the Committee boat end with bags of space and
followed him up the first beat, followed by Andy Couch and Rob Kennaugh in Merlin
3700 and also Pete and Rach Gray in Scorpion 2045. And that's pretty much how it
stayed for the remainder for the 3 laps.
At 15:03 the sun finally broke through the
thinning clouds, the temperature increased noticeably and the wind dropped. The
final leg of the 3rd lap saw a desperate tacking duel between the two Ospreys of
Richard Hartley and Ian Macdonald reminiscent of Connor vs Bertram in 1983, the
AOD counted 10 tacks in the leg from mark 4 to the line, but try as he might IanM
could not get past the black Osprey, but it was nice to see IanMac go over the line
with a big smile on his face.
Positions (on the water) for Race 2:
1.Osprey 1381, Richard and Mark Hartley
2.Osprey 1285, Ian MacDonalad and Jon Gibbons
3.Phantom 1456, Andy Couch
4.Merlin 3700, Rob Kennaugh and crew
5.Scorpion 2045, Pete Gray and Rach Gray
The OD pulled up the anchor at 15:35, with the sun disappearing over the hill at Admaston
to work out the results.
Final positions over the first 2 races, based on corrected time:
1.Scorpion 2045, Pete Gray and Rachel Gray
2.GP14 13716, Mike Senior and Oliie Goodhead
3.Phantom 1456, Andy Couch
But this is only a quarter of the way to the finish line, there are three more days to go
in December, January and February, with eight races in total and six to count, so plenty
of time.
Many thanks to Andy the Rear Commodore and his team, on the water, in the office
and in the Galley and behind the bar during the day.
And also the Barrel race series sponsors, Hartleys Boats of Derby (probably the best
Chandlery in the area and certainly the best in Derby) and Krupps UK Ltd the
official club sponsors for continuing to support the club.
We look forward to seeing everyone back on 11th December for round 2 for some
more jousting on the Reservoir, in the famous tradition of the Blithfield Barrel.
Full results on www.Blithfield.org.uk