Miracle Welsh Area Championship 2025 at Shotwick Lake Sailing

by Shan Stapley 27 Sep 16:23 AEST 20-21 September 2025

The eagerly awaited weekend for Shotwick Miracle sailors and visiting crews had arrived, from Shustoke SC, Delph SC and Colemere SC. However, the weather on Saturday was not so welcoming. Cool and drizzly with a North Westerly blowing over the lake, a good direction straight off the estuary.

Race officer Jonathon Edwards held a briefing, sharing the expected forecast, wind freshening with periods of prolonged heavy persistent rain, no need for sunscreen!

Seven intrepid Miracles took to the water for the first race; an excellent course had been set with lots of spinnaker legs and tricky beats. Every boat had mixed gender crews, father and daughter, octogenarian and teenager, lady helm but no husband-and-wife pairings.

The first race got off to a good start with tight beats between all the boats, Shustoke sailors Dave and Zara rounding the windward mark first,closely followed by local sailors Mark and Sara and Dave and Shan. Experienced sailors quickly flew spinnakers for the short downwind leg, gybing them at the next mark. However, Dave and Shan with only two sails held off the faster boats but did hoist the spinnaker at the next mark for the long broad reach to the furthest end of the lake; the four boats with spinnakers looked picturesque. The non spinnaker boat, Etty Ketty helmed by Gaz was in contention with the top of the fleet as closely fought places changed often.

After four laps and an hour on the water, Dave and Zara crossed the line, comfortably in front of the rest. Dave and Shan were in second, 20 seconds ahead of Wayne and Angela who were pressing from behind and had even passed them on the last mark. All the crews welcomed the warmth of the clubhouse for a well-earned comfort break with delicious tea and cakes from the ever-smiling galley team of Dot, Sandra and Leslie.

Most were reluctant to leave the clubhouse for race 2 as the predicted forecast of heavier rain had begun. Nevertheless, all the boats got off to another smooth start and were soon jostling for position around the windward mark. Whilst racing they could almost forget the rain, but spare a thought for the race team, with little cover, especially those on safety.A big thank you to Jonathon Edwards and Simon Dolman on race duty and an even more appreciative one for Mark Roberts and James Stark on safety. Once again Dave and Zara were first round the windward mark, followed by Wayne and Angela who showed their experienced Miracle skills in the freshening breeze. These two boats kept their positions for the 4 laps. In the following group of Shotwick sailors, the non-spinnaker boat with Gaz and Claire were ahead of Mark and Sara and Dave and Shan. These three boats battled as positions changed on the lake and the persistent rain became a deluge. Crews were trying to hand bail as water rose in boats, but still they raced on. After 53 mins, Dave and Zara crossed the line followed by Wayne and Angela with Mark and Sara in 3rd place.

Shotwick changing rooms may be small, but everyone welcomed the hot showers and were warm and suitably refreshed before the evening celebration. The clubhouse had been decorated with a nautical theme and was warm and welcoming despite the continued rain. A delicious hot dinner of steak pie and vegetables followed by apple pie and cream had been prepared by Kath and served by Dot, Sandra and Leslie for competitors and friends.

At the end of first day of racing, Dave and Zara had built up an impressive lead with two clear wins. With three races to count, any boats only attending the Sunday races could also win. As the heavy rain continued into the night, everyone was hoping for better weather in the morning.

What a difference a day makes! We woke to clear blue skies and a Northerly breeze, perfect conditions for the final day of the Miracle Open. Today's race team were Conrad Brown assisted by Neil Wallace on shore and Commodore Jeremy Cooper and David Barker on safety. A new course was set; a new crew of Matt and Julie joined the fleet on the start line. Unfortunately, Matt(standing in for Simon) was a little too keen, and just dipped the line ahead of the gun, whilst he turned back the fleet were racing to the windward mark with Wayne and Angela rounding first, closely followed by Mark and Sara.Today's course had tighter spinnaker legs and three beats, so plenty of opportunities to move places within the fleet. Before the end of the first lap, Dave and Zara had once again reached the front, followed by Wayne and Angela, but positions between the next four boats were constantly changing. Geoff and Maisie and Ellen and Pete were also close in the last two places. After four laps, Dave and Zara won with Wayne and Angela 40 seconds ahead of Mark and Sarah.

There was no coffee break this morning, as the races were back-to-back with the same course. For race four, everyone got off to a clean start and to their surprise, Dave and Shan rounded the windward mark first, with the rest of the fleet close behind. They managed to keep this place for the next two legs, despite not using their spinnaker. Their beats were good, and they held off Dave and Zara for a lap. Meanwhile there were some tough tousles between Mark and Sara, Wayne and Angela and Matt and Julie. Mark's concentration slipped at two, as he missed the buoy, did a 360 with the spinnaker up and got it so tangled they had to limp ashore. For this race, Claire helmed her boat, whilst Gaz crewed, and they enjoyed close battles with the other lady helm Ellen, and our oldest helm Geoff. After four laps, Dave and Zara crossed the line for their 4th win, followed by Dave and Shan then Wayne and Angela.

There was much excitement in the clubhouse and picnic benches over lunch, as the handicap regatta fleet were racing too. After the break, the first place was in no doubt, but it was all to play for between three boats for second and third places. Wayne and Angela had 7pts, Dave and Shan, 8pts and Mark and Sara, 10pts.

Race 5 got off to a clean start, and Wayne and Angela were first at the windward mark, and they continued to hold their position for four legs before the skilful father and daughter team once again passed them. The Shotwick sailors raced well, and for this race Sylvie, Claire's daughter crewed for Gaz. It looked and sounded like she was thoroughly enjoying her first Open experience in the strengthening breeze. Another teenager enjoying the experience was Maisie who had crewed every race for Geoff and flew the spinnaker for the first time too. After four laps Mark and Sara were the first Shotwick boat to cross the line in third place behind Wayne and Angela.

Congratulations to Dave and Zara winning the 2025 Shotwick Miracle Open, with Deph sailors, Wayne and Angela in runner up spot. The highest placed home boat, It's a.... sailed by Dave and Shan in third. A special mention must go to Wayne, who revealed he had been attending the Shotwick Miracle Open since 1985! Forty years, it must be a great venue, but all our Miracle sailors appreciate his knowledge of all things Miracle. Another Mr Miracle is our home-grown Geoff, who has sailed Miracles in Shotwick since he built his first one, Elmo. Well built, it still sails today. Geoff has also organised our Miracle events for many years, including this one. Thanks Geoff, everyone appreciates you. We hope everyone will have special memories of their 2025 Shotwick Open experience. See you in 2026

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts
1st	3794	David Turtle	Zara Frankton	Shustoke	‑1	‑1	1	1	1	3
2nd	4121	Wayne Atherton	Angela Sweeney	Delph	‑3	2	2	‑3	2	6
3rd	4103	Dave Thomas	Shan Stapley	Shotwick Lake	2	‑4	‑4	2	4	8
4th	4064	Mark Nield	Sara Bell	Shotwick Lake	‑4	3	3	(RET)	3	9
5th	3732	Gareth Henshall	Sylvia Cornmell	Shotwick Lake	5	5	‑6	‑6	5	15
6th	4011	Matt Bennett	Julie Dolman	Shotwick Lake	(DNC)	(DNC)	5	4	DNC	18
7th	4108	Geoffrey Weir	Maisie Dolby	Shotwick Lake	‑7	(RET)	7	5	6	18
8th	4116	Ellen Dimelow	Pete Williams	Colemere	6	6	‑8	‑7	7	19