10 Rater Tankard Open & Marblehead GAMES 3 at Frensham Pond Sailing Club
by John Haine 22 Mar 19:27 NZDT
20 March 2024
10 Rater Tankard at Frensham - approaching the yellow windward mark © John Haine
The day started inauspiciously with no sign of wind and very little promise of any. By the time racing started there was wind, but very light and very variable.
The simple windward/leeward course set up by Race Officer Nick Royse turned out to be anything but simple with runs becoming beats or reaches and vice versa with the beats. This introduced an element of chance into the racing, to say the least.
With three 10R's and nine Marbleheads entered, Nick gave the fleets the choice of starting all together or separately, with the former edging the result, although the fleets were scored separately. The light winds and a longish course resulted in just eleven races sailed.
Within the first four races a clear picture was beginning to emerge among the Marbleheads, with Paul Tickner (Grunge) leading, closely followed by Nigel Barrow (Grunge), Roger Stollery (UP) and Barrie Martin (Starkers2). Four races later the order had hardly changed with Nigel still two points behind Paul, and Barrie edging Roger into 3rd on countback. Nigel won the 9th race from Roger, with Barrie 3rd and Paul 5th. After discards, the top two were tied on 13 points, with Paul ahead on countback. Barrie won the 10th race from Nigel, with Paul 3rd and Roger 4th, putting Nigel into the overall lead. Nigel took the final race from Roger, cementing his win with 16 points, followed by Paul 2nd overall on 19, Barrie 3rd (26) and Roger also on 26, but 4th on countback.
The three local 10 Raters found themselves mid-fleet all day with the light airs preventing them from getting clear. Only John Millward (OD) was able to beat the combined fleet once, in the 4th race. After 4 races and 3 bullets, John on 3 points was ahead of Peter Mitchell (Frenetic) on 5 and Roger Pearce (Defector) on 7. At this point John's boat developed electrical problems and he rarely got a decent result thereafter. Meanwhile Peter and Roger traded the two top spots, with Peter winning overall on 13 points, Roger 2nd (16) and John 3rd (20).
The traditional Frensham tea and prize-giving was enjoyed by all with a special prize of a Frensham RSG cap awarded to Chris Watkins of Royal Temple Yacht Club for the most driving, having covered the 115 miles from Ramsgate to Frensham in four hours of rush hour traffic, to arrive just in time for race 1.
The results take took Barrie Martin to the top of the GAMES leaderboard with 238.7 points followed by Roger Stollery 291.4 with Bob Pearson in 3rd place with 105.7 points. It should be pointed out that these skippers have sailed in all 3 GAMES events so far and there are 3 single 100 scores close behind, so there is all to sail for in Guildford MYC's Summer Series of 3 events, GAMES 4, 5 & 6 starting with the Mermaid Trophy on 13 April. It is also interesting to note that this event was very competitive with performances by several older designs doing well and winning races. Barrie's 3 wins with his carefully prepared STARKERS SQUARED was a match for the more recent GRUNGE & UP designs in conditions that favour the latter and bode well for stronger winds, where the STARKERS design excels.
Overall Results:
10 Rater Tankard Trophy Open
1st Peter Mitchell, FPSC RSG, FRENETIC, 13pts
2nd Roger Pearce, Woking, DEFECTOR, 16pts
3rd John Milward, FPSC RSG, Own Design, 20pts
Marblehead GAMES 3
1st Niger Barrow, FPSC RSG, GRUNGE, 16pts
2nd Paul Tickner, Guildford, GRUNGE, 19pts
3rd Barrie Martin, the London MYC, STARKERS SQUARED, 26pts
4th Roger Stollery, Guildford, UP, 26pts
5th John Cleave, Ryde, GRUNGE, 40pts
6th Lewis Wyeth, Gosport, STARKERS CUBED, 50pts
7th Richard Baldey, FPSC RSG, WHISPER, 57pts
8th Chris Watkins, Royal Temple YC, ROAR EDGE, 62pts
9th Bob Pearson, Gosport, STARKERS SQUARED, 81pts