Windsport Catparts Sprint 15 Open at Halifax Sailing Club
by Charles Watson 12 Jul 2006 19:07 NZST
8-9 July 2006
The Sprint 15s enjoy conditions at Halifax © Paul Smith
On the weekend of 8/9 July the Sprint 15 fleet descended on the Halifax Sailing Club, with travellers from as far as the Isle of Wight, Sevenoaks, and Penmaenmawr joining 7 locals for some exciting sailing.
On Saturday all 3 races were sailed with beats & runs across the short dimension of the water & the best reach fortunately being the longest possible leg on the water. The starts were all port biased, the amount depending on how much the wind had swung during the last few minutes, so the OD and commodore, Walter Hodgson, took a pragmatic view to get the races started rather than keep the fleet hanging around while they adjust the line. Paul Smith notched up 3 straight wins with Bob Carter, Charles Watson, George Stephen and Erling Holmberg scrapping for the minor places and locals, David Walker and Steve Tunnacliffe never far behind.
On Sunday the solid force four, gusting viciously resulted in 3 competitors (including overnight leader, Smith) thinking better of it and spectating.
Race four saw Watson & Robin Boardman clear ahead until Watson’s UJ broke & forced a retirement after the first lap. Boardman sailed well and hard to keep Homberg and Carter at bay, line honours being taken in that order.
For the final race Watson got a good mid-line start, with Boardman & Carter to leeward. Watson managed to tack ahead of the chasing starboard tack boats & got cleanly around the first mark & building up a good lead, which was not intensely challenged by the (mostly) lighter helms in what were becoming very tough conditions, both in the average wind strength & the ferocity of the gusts. Carter took second, and Holmberg snatched third from Boardman with a duel at the last leeward mark after luffing beyond the mark and then taking a quick double gybe to round the mark as windward boat. Everyone was relishing the blast around the course. Thus, in the last Sprint 15 traveller before the National Championships a Netley the final results were as follows.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Helm | Sail No | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | B Carter | 1945 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| 2 | C Watson | 1237 | 2 | 3 | 4 | RTD | 1 | 10 |
| 3 | E Homberg | 1959 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
| 4 | G Stephen | 1594 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 16 |
| 5 | P Smith | 1961 | 1 | 1 | 1 | DNS | DNS | 17 |
| 6 | D Walker | 1795 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 24 |
| 7 | S Tunnacliffe | 1343 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 26 |
| 8 | R Boardman | 1949 | DNS | DNS | DNS | 1 | 4 | 33 |
| 9 | M & T Woodman | 1884 | 7 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 33 |
| 10 | A Addison | 1514 | RTD | 10 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 37 |
| 11 | K Parvin | 1615 | 11 | 8 | 7 | DNS | DNS | 40 |
| 12 | G Oxley | 1432 | 10 | RTD | DNS | 9 | 8 | 41 |
| 13 | R Gall | 1914 | 8 | 9 | 10 | DNS | DNS | 41 |