Two triumphs for Welland Yacht Club ace Katie on wet and windy day of racing

A wet and wild Sunday saw the Carl Bilbie pursuit regatta and the Cadet Trophy contested at Welland Yacht Club – with Katie Follington emerging a double winner.

Pursuit racing is where the handicap (in this regatta personal) is applied at the start of the race to give staggered start times then the result is the positions on the water at the end of the race duration (60 minutes).

In race one, Rosie, Freya and Samuel Willerton (all in Toppers) got away first, followed by Follington (Topper), Neal Tack and crew Rebecca Slator (Graduate), Mark Holland (Laser Radial), Alan Cox (Laser Radial), Paul Burton (Super Nova) and finally Andy Prior (Laser).

Freya and Samuel Willerton found the windy conditions too much and, after several capsizes, they retired. In the end it was Follington who took the win from Holland, Cox, Prior, Burton, Tack-Slator and Rosie Willerton.

Race two saw Prior victorious ahead of Follington, Holland, Cox, Tack-Slator, Burton and van Haren, while race three was again won by Follington from Prior, Burton, Holland, van Haren, Cox and Tack-Follington.

With two wins and a second, Katie Follington took overall victory in the Carl Bilbie regatta and, as highest placed cadet, also secured the Cadet Trophy.