The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Mark Scourfield clinched overall glory at Welland Yacht Club’s Paddle Regatta on Sunday.
With most of the weed having now been cleared from the river, four boats took to the start of the first race.
With a reasonable breeze, Scourfield (Solo) made the best of the start getting away ahead of Richard Stedman (Laser Radial), Katie Follington (Laser Radial) then Neal Tack with crew Rebecca Slator (Graduate).
However, as they headed upriver to the windward mark the rain began to pour down.
Scourfield was first around the mark having opened up a lead over Tack/Slator in second, followed by Stedman then Follington.
On approaching the clubhouse, Follington took third before rounding the lea mark and going onto the second lap.
The order remained fairly constant throughout the remainder of the race, with Scourfield crossing the line three minutes ahead of Tack-Slator, closely followed by Follington and then Stedman. The result would remain after handicaps were applied.
Race two saw Brian Cobb (Europe) join the field. This time, however, it was Follington making the best of the start, taking the early lead from Tack-Slator, Cobb, Stedman and then Scourfield.
With the wind having picked up, the constant tacking during the upwind leg would see Scourfield round the windward mark first, followed by Cobb then Stedman, Tack/Slater and Follington.
After the run back to the clubhouse Stedman pulled ahead of Cobb on rounding the lea mark, while the second lap saw Tack/Slator move up to third.
In the end, the finishing order saw Scourfield win from Stedman, Tack/Slator, Cobb and Follington.
However, handicap allowed Follington to move up to fourth ahead of Cobb down in fifth.
After a short break the third and final race got under way – and, again it was Follington who took the early lead from Stedman, Tack-Slator, Cobb and Scourfield.
Unfortunately, Follington then found one of the few remaining patches of weed and slipped to the back.
Despite another slow start, Scourfield made it first round the windward mark, followed by Tack/Slator, Stedman, Cobb and Follington.
That duly allowed Scourfield to make it three straight wins, with Tack/Slator second and Stedman third. Follington, meanwhile, found her way past Cobb in the final run to take fourth place.
That ensured that overall victory went to Scourfield, with Tack/Slator claiming and Stedman completing the podium in third.
Welland’s open day has been rescheduled for Sunday, September 5. If anybody wants to know more, they can contact the club via email secretary@wellandyachtclub.co.uk for further details.
