Graduate 1, 2 at LLSC Guy Fawkes Pursuit 2023
Leigh & Lowton SC kicked off their winter programme with their traditional Guy Fawkes Pursuit, this year on Guy Fawkes night itself, so there was Mulled Wine, Parkin Cake and Treacle Toffee available by a roaring fire after prizegiving. Over 50 competitors took part in this traditional start to the winter series, with the Revett Series running up to Xmas and New Years Day Pursuit and Icicle Series still to come over the winter.
The wind gave OOD Howard Green and his team some headaches as the predicted Westerly failed to materialise in time for the first start, and they had to make do with a fickle shifting SSW breeze for setting the course to allow the first juniors to get away.
One of the secrets to success this year was actually completing the right course(!), with a lot of participants failing to locate or remember the correct marks. A lead boat for the juniors helped them navigate the first lap and good racing was had between the Teras.
The wind continued to challenge the competitors’ patience at times, but early on the Graduates and Wayfarer all looked strong. The breeze filled in somewhat during the day before tailing off at the end of the race, meaning that the faster boats were unlikely to hunt down the early leaders.
An excellent race was sailed by Fresh and Brynster (Toddbrook) in their Graduate to take the gun at the end with a significant lead, while Chris and Chloe Parker (Bassenthwaite) held off the challenge of local Wayfarer Louise and Nigel. It’s a good few years since we’ve had a Graduate win this event so it was great to see them back in strength.
It’s always a long cold race for the juniors, but the persistence of Jamine Perry paid off as she took away the Junior Trophy for the event, a great result after nearly 3 hours of sailing.
1st Place – Fresh Abendstern & Brynster Abendstern – Graduate – Toddbrook
2nd Place – Chris Parker & Chloe Parker – Graduate – Bassenthwaite
3rd Place – Louise McKeand & Nigel Hall – Wayfarer – LLSC
4th Place – Tim Coleman & Emma Coleman – Albacore – LLSC
5th Place – Steve Blackburn – Laser – LLSC
1st Junior – Jasmine Perry – RS Tera – LLSC
Full Results:
Sailwave results for Guy Fawkes Pursuit 2023 at Leigh and Lowton SC 2023 (llsc.org.uk)
For entries to the LLSC Winter Series please see link below, all entries on line:
Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club : Winter open series 2023/24 (webcollect.org.uk)