International Canoe Open at Poole Yacht Club
by Sam Barker 16 Apr 00:09 PDT
12-13 April 2025
Poole International Canoe Open © James Hoffman
Six Canoes including one Asymmetric attended the International Canoes season opener hosted by Poole Yacht Club. With some new and returning faces, it was set to be a relaxed yet interesting start to the season.
Saturday's weather forecast of a light but building breeze was exactly what the fleet wanted.
Race 1 saw both Mike Fenwick and Dan Skinner get good starts, but it class newcomer Sam Barker in his new IC that managed to work his way through to win the race.
Race 2 was very similar with both Mike and Dan getting good starts. Unfortunately for Mike, he had swim which meant that James Hoffman in his AC came home in 3rd, Dan 2nd and Sam taking the bullet.
In Race 3 the Race Committee decided to challenge the fleet by setting a very short start line. Dan and Mike took full advantage of this and scampered clear. Sam chased hard and got Mike back but Dan was too far clear.
Back ashore, the boat park chat was all about shroud and forestay tension. With Sam's new boat sporting shroud tracks, the differences between the conventional fixed shroud points and the tracks was eye opening! Beer and pizza followed and an early night.
Day 2 had a building forecast which turned into a war of attrition.
In Race 4 Mike got to mark 1 first, but stalled his tack then fell in. Sam rounded 2nd and inherited the lead, Dan 3rd then put his food through his sail. This left class newbie Mike Kerslake in 2nd. Dan limped home and Mike Fenwick righted and carried on to get a 3rd.
The breeze had got up to a puffy 10-18 knots in Race 5. Sam and Mike Fenwick shot off and exchanged places the whole way around with Sam just pipping Mike Fenwick, with Mike Kerslake coming in 3rd and calling it a day.
Race 6 saw big shifts deciding things. Ultimately Sam came come and took the win making it 5 out of 6.
A big thank you to Poole Yacht Club for hosting and all the volunteers involved in making the weekend happen!
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 358 | Sam Barker | 1 | 1 | ‑1.5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 2nd | 341 | Mike Fenwick | 2 | ‑4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| 3rd | 342 | Michael Kerslake | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 | (DNS) | 18 |
| 4th | 344 | Dan Skinner | 3 | 2 | 1.5 | (DNS) | DNS | DNS | 20.5 |
| 5th | 299 | James Hoffman | 5 | 3 | 5 | (DNS) | DNS | DNS | 27 |
| 6th | 349 | Martin Rob | (DNS) | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | 35 |