2023 Hansa National TT Series at Frensham Pond Sailability
by James Woosnam 24 Sep 2023 02:06 PDT
20 September 2023
2023 Hansa National TT Series at Frensham © Sean Warnock
The final meeting of the 2023 Hansa National TT Series was held at Frensham Pond Sailability on Wednesday 20th September. The forecast was for challenging conditions with very strong gusts and the wind strength due to build throughout the day bringing heavy rain in the afternoon.
The race officer decided the conditions were too strong for the 2.3 fleet so there was no racing for them, and he decided to run the Liberty and 303 races separately.
The first Liberty race saw David Durston, Chris Emmett and Paul Phillips leading the fleet and swapping first place on every beat, with Paul Pearson and Ric Cassell having their own battle behind. The fight for the lead continued right to the last beat with Paul Phillips taking the win followed by Chris and then David.
The second race with the wind strengthening slightly was again Paul Phillips, David and Chris in the lead group up to the first windward mark, where there was a particularly strong gust (which caused the spectators to gasp) which meant the course sailed down that reach was a little bit unusual. The fleet spread out a bit over the first two laps, but a wind shift caused the fleet to bunch again at the end of the third windward leg. As in the first race, positions constantly changed on the windward legs but the race finished with Paul Phillips in the lead, followed by David, Chris, Paul Pearson (who was squeezed out at the line and missed second place) and Ric.
The 303 singles then went out to battle the tricky conditions - Mike Everitt and Rory McKinna sailed with full sails while Leslie Philip, James Woosnam, Kim Davies, Judith Riggs and Katie Apse opted for some reefs. The un-reefed boats dominated the race with Mike and Rory battling for first position. Rory was ahead for most of the race after the first round but Mike got passed him on the last windward leg to claim victory. Finishing order was Mike, Rory, Leslie, James, Kim, Judith and Katie.
As the wind had strengthened considerably at this point and most of the boats had a reasonable depth of water in the cockpit it was decided to abandon racing for the rest of the day.
Well done to all the sailors for racing in some very tricky conditions and for all managing to stay in their boats. A big 'Thank you' to the Race Officer, Graham Howlett, for managing to get three races sailed before the torrential rain started.
Overall Results:
Hansa Liberty
1st Paul Phillips (FPSC)
2nd David Durston (Whitefriars)
3rd Chris Emmett (Rutland)
Hansa 303 single handed
1st Mike Everitt (FPSC)
2nd Rory McKinna (Clyde Cruising Club)
3rd Leslie Philip (Tideway)
These results were the culmination of the Hansa Traveller Trophy series. Before the event David Durston and Rory McKinna were in pole position for the Liberty and 303 1-person fleets respectively. Paul Phillips and Mike Everitt from Frensham Pond needed nothing short of a win to secure the series. They both achieved that, depriving the visitors of the honours. Frensham Pond also took the Ben Ainslie team trophy.
Full results for the season can be found here.