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August Regatta 2002

Bala Sailing Club August Regatta attracted the helms and crews of 34 dinghies. Throughout the weekend the wind was extremely fickle, both in direction and strength, causing a few competitors to throw their teddies out of their boats.

In the first of three races held on Saturday, Gwil and Cath James in their RS 200 gained the perfect start in the fast handicap fleet, but were overhauled before the windward mark by several boats of faster classes, including the eventual winners, Steve and Bernie Bales of the RAF Sailing Association in their RS400 "Another Hugh Chardon". After one lap, the wind switched 180 degrees, causing many slower handicap boats to be becalmed.

The wind direction for race two changed to the dreaded light southerly. All boats found the windward mark difficult to round, but again Steve and Bernie Bales got into clear wind first and then pulled decisively away from the fleet. To their apparent surprise, Chris and Jane Horn of Leigh and Lowton were second in the race in another RS 400. The third race of the day finished quite late in a failing breeze after quite a good force 2 at the start. Again the RS400 of the Bales' won clearly, but the Flying 15 of John and Bernie Saunders achieved their best result of the series in second place and Ralph Jones in his Blaze, now coming into contention and showing consistency in the testing conditions, was third.

Three further races took place on Sunday. The wind became more consistent in direction and presented fewer problems for the duty officers. Significantly, race 5 of the fast handicap series was won by Ralph Jones, .thus preventing Steve and Bernie Bales from having a clean sweep of first places. Dave Eccles, new to Blaze sailing, improved his performance over the two days and gained overall third place.

In the slow handicap fleet, there was close racing between Peter Cook and Janet Exelby in their Lark, John Salomonson and Stella Shaw in their GP14, and Jack and Jennifer Mead in their Enterprise. Despite the competition, Peter Cook and Janet Exelby won four out of five races, managing to win one of the races, even though they had followed the fast handicap fleet by mistake for part of the race!

The Junior racing was dominated by Rebecca Taylor in her Optimist, winning two races and coming second twice. Jo Cannon and D. Turner in their Miracle were second and Tomos Lloyd in a Topper was third.

The Monday Regatta consisted of three races with the fast and slow handicap boats competing in one fleet. Jack and Jennifer Mead form Shustoke in their Enterprise gained a first, second and a third to win the series overall. They sailed well, using the tricky, shifty conditions to their advantage. In the final race, the Flying 15 of Stella Shaw and Tony Howard dominated and held off the challenge of the Flying 15's of Ron Isles and Peter Goodlife, and Johan and Bernie Saunders.

Results

Fast Handicap

HELM CREW CLASS CLUB R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Pts Pos
S. Bales
B. Bales RS 400 Rafsa
1
1
1
1
2
1
4
1
R. Jones
Blaze Bala
3
22
3
2
1
3
9
2
D. Eccles
Blaze Bala
8
2
4
3
4
2
11
3
L. Beasley
 T. Dicker Fireball Greensforge
5
3
19
5
3
7
16
4
C. Horn
 J. Horn RS 400 Leigh & Lowton
2
6
6
6
5
4
17
5
J. Saunders
 B. Saunders Flying 15 Bala
4
5
2
12
6
6
17
6
J. Smith
 L. Smith RS 400 Rafsa
7
7
11
16
7
5
26
7
G. James
 C. James RS 200 Bala
9
4
7
7
11
20
27
8
A. Elkington
 I. Elkington Buzz Staunton Harold
10
9
5
9
9
9
32
9
E. Corteen
Laser Vortex Pennine
6
12
19
11
8
14
37
10
P. Thomson
E. Thomson
 Merlin Rocket Bala
13
10
9
8
14
12
39
11
M. James
 B. Taylor Merlin Rocket Bala
11
13
8
13
15
8
40
12
R. Smith
 M. Smith RS 200 Bala
14
8
19
10
13
10
41
13
C. Porter
J. Porter
 Flying 15 Bala
12
19
10
14
12
11
45
14
D. Pye
Blaze Bala
20
20
20
4
10
20
54
15
I. Beadle
 S. Eggleston Buzz Bala
15
11
14
15
16
20
55
16
C. Hitchman
 S. Roberts RS 400 Bartley
22
14
12
18
17
13
56
17
R. Isles
 P. Goodlife Flying 15 Bala
22
19
19
17
20
20
75
18

Slow Handicap

HELM
CREW
CLASS
CLUB
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6
Pts
Pos
P. Cook
J. Exelby
Lark
Bristol Corinthian
1
1
1
2
1
12
4
1
J. Salomonson
S. Shaw
GP 14
South Staffs
2
2
2
1
2
1
6
2
J. Mead
J. Mead
Enterprise
Shustoke
4
3
3
3
4
2
11
3
J. Hunter
Solo
Bala
6
5
4
5
5
4
18
4
D. Hastings
OK
Bala
12
12
12
4
3
3
22
5
N. Benton
Laser
Greensforge
14
7
11
6
6
5
24
6
D. Summerville
Laser
Jebel Ali
3
4
11
12
12
12
30
7
F. Reece
Solo
Bala
5
6
11
12
12
12
34
8
Cl. Smith
Laser Radial
Bala
7
8
11
12
12
12
38
9
J. Cannon
Solo
Bala
14
10
11
12
12
12
45
10

Junior Handicap

HELM CREW CLASS CLUB
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
Pts
Pos
Rebecca Taylor
Optimist
Bala
2
1
2
1
8
6
1
Jo. Cannon
D. Turner
Miracle
Bala
1
2
8
8
8
19
2
Tomos Lloyd
Topper
Bala
8
8
8
2
2
20
3
Laura Bowler
Topper
Bala
3
3
8
8
8
22
4
Elin Lloyd
Topper
Bala
8
8
1
8
8
25
5
Beryl Williams
Pico
Bala
8
8
8
3
8
27
6

Bank Holiday Monday Handicap

HELM
 CREW CLASS CLUB
R1
R2
R3
Pts
Pos
J. Mead J. Mead Enterprise Shustoke
1
2
3
3
1
S. Bales B. Bales RS 400 Rafsa
2
1
24
3
2
S. Shaw T. Howard Flying 15 Bala
7
6
1
7
3
D. Eccles Blaze Bala
5
3
24
8
4
J. Saunders B. Saunders Flying 15 Bala
4
8
4
8
5
M. James A. Green Merlin Rocket Bala
8
4
6
10
6
R. Isles P. Goodlife Flying 15 Bala
11
9
2
11
7
P. Thomson E. Thomson Merlin Rocket Bala
6
5
7
11
8
S. Lewis Blaze Bala
10
7
5
12
9
A. Elkington I. Elkington Buzz Staunton Harold
9
10
24
19
10
C. Horn J. Horn RS 400 Leigh & Lowton
12
11
24
23
11
E. Corteen Laser Vortex Pennine
13
12
24
25
12
J. Smith L. Smith RS 400 Rafsa
3
27
24
27
13
J. Beare F. Webb Merlin Rocket Bala
15
24
24
39
14

Bank Holiday Monday Junior Handicap

HELM CLASS CLUB
R1
R2
Pts
Pos
Elin Lloyd
Topper
Bala
1
1
2
1
Tomos Lloyd
Topper
Bala
2
2
4
2
Beryl Williams
Pico
Bala
5
3
8
3


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