The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Tom Bell toasted overall glory in Welland Yacht Club’s Morning Points (MP) Series after a great day of racing on Sunday.
Perfect conditions greeted competitors as warm weather and a strong westerly breeze allowed the officer of the day to set a long course all the way to the bypass bridge.
The first race of the day was the sixth and final race in the MP series and saw some very close racing with the Lasers of Bell and Andy Prior swapping positions many times.
Despite a capsize, Prior fought back to take first place from Bell by only two seconds with Shelly Woolridge taking third spot in her Laser Radial.
She was shortly ahead of junior Harry Whitelam in a Topper, who was sailing his first competitive race.
Overall this meant the series was won by Bell, with Prior second and Paul Burton in third.
The afternoon races were rounds three and four of the Commodore Points series, with the first of these being won by Prior.
Bell came home second after failing out of the back of the boat as he rounded buoy six, while third place was taken by an ever improving Gail Follington.
Shelly Woolridge, also in a Laser Radial, was fourth with Neal Tack in fifth. Harry Whitelam, showing great potential, came sixth with another junior, Katie Follington, seventh.
The final race of the day saw a depleted fleet as both Bell and Prior were unavailable – but that didn’t stop some competitive racing.
Gail Follington took first place from Tack in second, with Woolridge and Katie Follington in third and fourth respectively.
The day saw two more juniors make the step up in competing in the racing schedule, with very good results.
Welland hope to see Katie Follington and Whitelam in future races, which would make five junior members who are actively competing among the adults.
Gail Follington now leads the series by one point with two races to go.
