Competitive Finale to LLSC Revett Sailing Series Sunday 13th December saw the final two races of the six week long 2015 Revett winter sailing series. With the promise of a bit of breeze for the first time in 2 weeks the crews of the 45 boats that turned up expectantly were disappointed to find that once again the wind gods had been cruel and all we got was a light north easterly breeze for the first race which died off...
2015 Revett Open series at Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club – Week 2 – Races 3 & 4 Another weekend and another ‘fresh to frightening’ forecast that kept the numbers down as this week only 26 boats dared to venture out for a blast (and a swim) around Pennington Flash. After the usual pre-sail chatter about the expected wind strength, and while watching the dark wind gusts from the south west fly out across the water at increasingly more regular...
2015 Revett Open series at Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club – Week 1 – Races 1 & 2 With weeklong forecasts of 20 to 40 knots of wind due for the first weekend of the 2015 Revett series at Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club the turnout of 33 boats was lower than expected but sail we did and what fun we had. The competitors arrived on an un-seasonally mild morning to find a very manageable Force 3 blowing from the...
After Doomsday predictions from the weathermen, sailors arrived for the rescheduled (due to no wind) Guy Fawkes Pursuit race with a little trepidation; the weather clearly put a few off with only a lower than normal 25 turning out. Seeing 25-30 knots plus rain blowing through an hour before the start everyone expected a full-on day’s racing. But behind that squall there was a huge lull and the OOD Howard Green had to be on his toes to relay the course 3 times...
The Guy Fawkes Pursuit, Revett Series (Pre-Xmas), New Year’s Day Pursuit and the famous Tipsy Icicle Series (post Xmas) constitute some of the best winter racing you can find in the UK. Hosted by Leigh & Lowton SC, you can enter for all 4 events and qualify to be in the running for the title of Winter Champion 2015/16, or you can pick one or two events to enter to keep you active in the winter. With professional OOD team Peter & Judith...
Results available here. Thanks to Gerard Vanden Hoek for photographs. An early 14 knot easterly breeze greeted the competitors and the 66 boats that turned out for the final weekend of the 2015 Crewsaver Tipsy Icicle series at Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club. The top places in each fleet were already confirmed before the racing started but this didn’t mean the winners could relax as there was the matter of pride to sail for and further down the fleets, there was the...
Optimists have been out in force on three Sundays at Leigh and Lowton Sailing Clubs Winter Series. The North Optimist Championship has been held alongside the Tipsy Icicle and has quickly earned a reputation as the toughest winter oppy racing in the North. Racing has been divided into three divisions depending on which training squad the sailor was part of. The open competition attracted national, intermediate and development squad sailors, zone was the RYA zone squads from across the regions...
It had been a long time in coming but it was worth the wait as for the first time in the series a true westerly breeze straight down the Flash allowed the PRO to utilise the full length of the water, and in the process bring a big smile to the asymmetric fleet, as he set a long beat with plenty of off wind legs AND a windward/leeward course for the asymmetrics. After an initial pre-start downpour the sun decided to...
With midweek forecasts of gale force winds for Sunday it was touch and go whether we would get any sailing in this weekend, however the majority of the gale seemed to have blown through overnight as competitors for races 17 & 18 in the Crewsaver sponsored Tipsy Icicle series at Leigh & Lowton sailing club arrived to find a manageable 17 knot south westerly breeze which enticed 46 boats on to the water while many others opted for the warmth of the...
With several weather forecasts for Sunday predicting 30 knot winds, snow and freezing cold temperatures it was little wonder quite a few competitors decided to make alternate plans for Sunday. The die-hards who did decide to turn up found that two thirds of the forecast was right as 30 minutes before the start they witnessed (and sailed in) a blizzard and the air temperature dropped significantly. Undeterred by all of this 49 boats braved the elements and took to the water for races 15 &...