Crewsaver Tipsy Icicle Week 6 – multiple retirements as force 7 gusts blow through
Races 11 & 12 on Sunday 9th February 2014. With some events cancelled this weekend due to adverse travel conditions and a forecast for near gale force winds it was no surprise that upon arriving at the club to find a very cold and gusty breeze only 35 boats ventured out onto Pennington Flash for races 11 & 12 in the ‘Crewsaver’ sponsored Tipsy Icicle series at Leigh & Lowton sailing club.As the fleets launched there was a 19 knot breeze from the south west. The direction allowed the race team to start at the bottom end of the water and set a long beat and four off wind legs for the non-asymmetric fleets. Prior to the start the wind strength increased and the fleet were hit by gusts of 34 knots (Force 8) which resulted in many capsized boats, a bent mast for one of the Solo’s and the asymmetric fleet leaders, the Allen brothers, having their slot gasket rip off as they sailed off wind thus causing them to return to shore. Many other boats returned to shore either before the start or retired during the course of their race.
The wind dropped to a more ‘manageable’ 20+ knots for the start and first away was the 9 strong Laser fleet. Stuart Belfield (LLSC) had decided discretion was the name of the game and, for the first time in living memory of him having sailed Lasers (and it has been a long time), he produced a lime green Radial sail from the boot of his car, rigged and went afloat. As the wind increased this soon proved to be the right choice and Belfield looked comfortable as he hit the front and went on to pull out a big lead to take first place. Second home was Bill Busby (LLSC) followed by Greg Marshall (WLYC) and Graham McWhirter (Radial – UKLA)
Second fleet away was the 14 boat handicap fleet which included 5 Solos (the results of which are taken separately from the handicap finish) Staying upright was the order of the day and it was the Albacore of Mike Banner/Mark Atherton ( LLSC) who managed to do this and sailed extremely well to lead the fleet home and take first place on corrected time. Second on corrected time was series leader Andy Flitcroft (Supernova – Bolton SC), third was Mark Cuthbert (Supernova – LLSC) and fourth Peter May (Supernova – Bolton SC)
In the Solo fleet there were two retirements due to gear failure but it was series leader Patrick Hamilton (Burwain SC) who took the win from Ian Harridge (Nantwich & Borders SC) in second while Chris Tooley (South Windermere SC) finished third.
Next away were the 8 boat Asymmetric fleet who, to their great delight, were set a windward/leeward course. Again staying upright was the key and only one boat managed to avoid capsizing, or hitting anything else on the water, this being the RS400 of Gary Knott and guest crew Mark ‘Beefy’ Dingsdale (LLSC) who took the bullet. Behind them there were a few capsizes, collisions and retirements again due to fatigue, gear failure and ripped sails. In all only three boats finished the race with Hamish Gledhill/Simon Dowse (RS400 – West Riding SC) second and Caroline Exley/Jude Allen (RS400 – LLSC) third.
In the 12 boat junior fleet series leader Oliver Blackburn (Topper – LLSC) proceeded to stamp his authority on the fleet with a win. Second was a new comer to the fleet, Alex Hughes (Topper – Sutton SC), third was Tom Wallwork (Topper – LLSC) and fourth was Archie Leckie (Optimist – LLSC)
During the course of the second race of the day the wind had dropped to an average of 15 knots with the occasional 29 knot gusts.
In the Laser fleet Belfield decided to revert back to his full rig but could only manage second this time as Greg Marshall took the win. Bill Busby finished third and HaydenBlake Griffinths (Radial – LLSC) fourth.
In the handicap fleet it was the same top two with Banner/Atherton winning and Flitcroft second. After his retirement in Race 1 Peter Machin (RS300 – Bolton SC) returned to the water to take third and Mark Cuthbert fourth.
It was the same top two in the Solo fleet as well as, after a battle to eventually get past Harridge, Hamilton won. Harridge was second and, after retiring in the first race, Steve Ferrington (West Kirby) battled the elements to finish third.
With a new sail and a determination to stay upright in this race it was Joshua/Patrick Metcalfe (RS400 – LLSC) who won the second race in the asymmetric fleet but they were pushed hard by Gledhill/Dowse who at one point had overtaken them on the long windy downwind leg. Third were the consistent Mrs Exley/Mrs Allen and fourth was Knott/Dingsdale.
The junior fleet also had the same winner as Blackburn made it two out of two. Wallwork went one better to finish second, Hughes slipped to third and Sam Platt (Topper – Bolton SC) rounded off the top four.
After a hard days sailing in testing conditions for even the most experienced helms there can only be one or two crews that did not at some point require the assistance of a safety boat. The safety crews worked exceptionally hard in recovering helms from overturned boats, returning them to shore and later retrieving the boats. For the second weekend running a special thanks to the safety boat crews and volunteers who had a very busy day on a cold gusty day.
With 2 new entries to the series this weekend it means that the total number of boats we have had on the water and crossing the start line during the ‘Crewsaver’ Tipsy Icicle series is 151.
The ‘Crewsaver’ Tipsy Icicle is the largest dinghy winter series in the country and runs until the 16th March. First race starts at midday and full details on how to enter are on the club website and can be done via webcollect or pay per day at the reception desk. Come and join us this coming Sunday for races 13 & 14 in the series. We look forward to seeing you.
LLSC website and photographs of the days racing:https://llsc.org.uk/
Full results can be found on:https://llsc.org.uk/LLSC/Results/2014Tipsy.htm
Sponser site: http://www.crewsaver.co.uk/
Crewsaver Tipsy Icicle video link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqnz0-jwuus
