British Moth Open at Chippenham Sailing & Canoe Club
by Mark Collyer 25 Aug 2008 09:23 NZST
23 August 2008
The tight confines of the River Avon at Chippenham makes the venue challenging at the best of times and a combination of light winds and a strong current taxed the skills of the British Moth sailors on August 23rd.
In the first of the three races the downstream start caused the fleet to bunch at the first mark, and it allowed Mark Wiltshire (Frampton) to pull clear and sensibly sailing tight up the far bank pulled out an unassailable lead, Roger Witts (Frampton) pulled clear but fell into a hole opposite the clubhouse and was caught by the pursuing pack, with Andrew Perrott (Chippenham) finally taking second place from Witts.
The second race followed the same pattern as the first but the magin between first and second was far smaller and the line came just in time for Wiltshire as Perrott chased him down, leaving Witts in third place again. The final race saw Wiltshire in a more relaxed mode and it was Laura Honey’s turn to break out of the pack followed by Witts and Perrott.
As usual the club put on bacon butties at lunch time coutesy of Mary Master’s and race officer Mark Collyer and his wife Karen incinerated a few beefburgers during the evening barbeque. Mathew Perrott had a very quiet time on rescue boat with eveyone avoiding the trees. More of the same is planned for next year.
Overall Results:
1st BM817, Mark Wiltshire (Frampton on Severn SC) 2pts
2nd BM797, Andrew Perrott (Chippenham SCC) 4pts
3rd BM700, Laura Honey (Frampton on Severn SC) 5pts
4th BM871, Roger Witts (Frampton on Severn SC) 5pts
5th BM787, Mark Bartlett (Chippenham SCC) 9pts