The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Andy Prior continued his impressive season at Welland Yacht Club by clinching two series titles on Sunday.
He won the final round of the Morning Points Series to clinch that crown, before triumphing in the last two races in the Commodores Points Series to add that title to his ever-growing list of accolades.
With Prior and Tom Bell separated by a point at the top of the standings ahead of the Morning Points Series finale, it was essentially a case of who finished above who for overall victory – as long as they didn’t both finish too low as Paul Burton still had a mathematical chance.
With Lucy Burton and Geri van Haren making up the five boat start, the race got under way amid a substantial breeze with Bell getting the early lead.
Paul Burton was caught by a gust but managed to hold off the capsize. However, van Haren wasn’t so lucky and – once righted – had a boat full of water until he could get in to drain.
Back at the front, Prior took the lead from Bell by being able to manage the gusts more effectively.
He kept the lead and took overall victory, with Bell second Paul Burton third, Lucy Burton fourth and van Haren fifth.
Overall Morning Points Series standings (final): 1st Andy Prior; 2nd Tom Bell; 3rd Paul Burton; 4th Emma Agar.
The afternoon saw the final two races of the Commodores Points Series – this time with Brian Cobb vying for overall victory over Prior.
With eight boats lining up for the first race over an elongated course, they tried to get the best from the conditions. Cobb took the early lead from Prior, closely followed by Bell and Paul Burton and not too far behind the rest of the fleet led by Lucy Burton, van Haren, Shelly Woolridge and Paul Wilson.
As the race progressed Paul Burton took the lead on the water, with Prior and Bell keeping within handicap. Behind them, van Haren moved up to fourth on the water, but with Cobb still keeping within handicap.
With Lucy Burton managing to keep ahead of the slightly faster boat of Wilson once rounded the top mark for the first time, Woolridge headed for home and retired from the race. The remainder of the race passed without incident, with Prior winning ahead of Bell once handicaps were applied.
The final race of the series saw the fleet drop back down to just five. With Cobb being one of those dropping out, it left Prior with overall victory.
Despite that, the race was still hard-fought, with Prior taking the early lead from Bell and Paul Burton, closely followed by Lucy and Wilson.
Prior then found himself capsizing and, although he recovered quickly, dropped down to third.
Still determined to pull off another clean sweep of the day’s races, he gained on Bell on the final run back to the finish line managing to take the win. Bell was second, with Paul Burton third.
Overall Commodores Points Series standings (final): 1st Andy Prior, 2nd Brian Cobb, 3rd Paul Burton, 4th Mark Holland.
