The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Welland Yacht Club held their annual camping weekend, with families of club members enjoy the facilities.
That involved some canoeing, kayaking, paddleboarding and sailing, with a barbecue and musical entertainment.
The Lowland Trophy was up for grabs on Sunday in three novelty races where the racing is different to the normal format.
Officer of the day Andy Prior devised the races with a kings and queens theme and the first race saw playing cards drawn at the start, with handicap numbers changed if fancy dress was worn.
The boats set off in sunshine and light winds and each time they crossed the line they had to go to the clubhouse and draw another card, which would effect the overall score.
Only six boats made the start and, after a race that was again affected by the amount of weed that is building up, it was Alan Cox, sailing a Laser full rig, who finished in first place.
He was followed by Alan Chapman, Laser full rig, with Neil Tack and Rebecca Slator in the Graduate third, followed by Sandor Kecskemeti, fourth, Helen Boyd fifth in a GP14 and Izzy Herring’s Topper sixth place.
The second race was a pursuit race over 50 minutes, with a running start to the boats on the allotted start time. Some had to round buoys once and others twice, which did cause confusion.
The first turning mark had to be rounded twice and Chapman led, followed by Tack and Slator with Kecskemeti, Boyd and Cox following. Cox made a bad start but made remarkable progress to join the drift round the buoy in the bunch of boats.
Tack and Slator headed out in first place on the run before the wind with Cox in the faster boat in close attendance, followed by Chapman, Boyd and Kecskemeti.
Rounding the intermediate buoys made for some wins and losses as the wind slightly increased, which helped in getting through the weed growth.
Tack and Slator held off the challenge until the next buoy where Cox made his play to take the lead and Chapman came through to challenge in a Laser class race, where cross tacking and covering was required.
Cox maintained his lead on the run back down as the clock ticked down. However he forgot to round one of the intermediate buoys, making for a closer race than it should have been. However, rounding on the inside gave him an advantage that he did not let slip up. He was followed over the line by Chapman, Tack and Slator, Kecskemeti and Boyd.
The final race was run by the same rules but saw the best breeze of the day. Nick Bonsor took the helm of the GP14, with Helen Boyd as crew. Cox again dominated the race and the familiar order of Chapman chasing and Tack and Slator in third completed the finishing order. With handicaps worked out that was the order of the race after the GP14 had retired on the second lap.
Overall results saw Cox continue his winning streak to lift the trophy with Chapman second and Tack and Slator third.
Andy Prior was thanked for his race management of the special races, with new ideas keeping the crews thinking outside the box.
Anyone wanting to find out more about sailing should contact the club via email secretary@wellandyachtclub.co.uk
