Warsash Open - June 13/14 2009
Blazing sunshine and a modest sea breeze greeted greeted the 26 competitors for the annual Warsash Open meeting. Wind, while mercifully constant in its coverage of the racing area, delivered a wide range of conditions, from flat water and 2-3 knots to significant chop and 12-13. The fleet perhaps saw more mixed placings as a result and with only one discard from six races, consistency would be rewarded.
I'd like it to be noted at this point the effort that goes in to writing an open meeting report. War correspondents may well duck bullets in pursuit of journalistic truth but their commitment pales when compared to my sacrifice, carefully monitoring the behaviour of the fleet from a prime vantage point at the...supporting end.
Race coaches prattle endlessly about goal setting as a psychological tool for inmproving performance and this has never been better demonstrated than by Simon Beddows. Having declared that his boat (570) was going up for sale after the event, he shot off the start line and carried the first race virtually unopposed, trailed by Mike 'Pure Fun and Magic' Lyons and Chris 'HMS Boyo' Holman.
As the wind built to a staggering 5-6 knots (accompanied by frustrating chop) the immediate leaders, clearly disorientated by the demanding conditions, sailed around the spreader mark and off downwind, electing to ignore the wing mark. Andy 'The Frothy Walrus' Hewitt -having rounded the windward mark in 5th- took advantage and carried the race, followed by Lyons and Leslie (714) Ross.
Gathering cloud and blustery 8 knot gusts clearly got the fleet excited for the final race...so much so that the first attempt at a start, with rather too much port bias, saw a lot of shouting and a general recall. A second attempt had the fleet away in good order with Hewitt and Lyons pulling away to do battle, Hewitt eventually prevailing. Heading up the rest of the fleet was Tim 'Timbuctoo' Davison and Beddows taking 3rd.
Evening entertainment provided by local band 'Too drunk to dance,' met a perhaps less volatile, and certainly less YouTube worthy crowd than has been known at Blaze events. The missing ingredient (a certain spritely welshman) ensured that the cocktail of alcohol, sunstroke and national pride never reacted to produce any first times for the clubhouse.
The following morning the fleet was greeted by clear skies, perplexing tides and very little wind. An unperturbed 19 Blazes made the hour-long creep against tide to the racing area, only for the current they'd fought to get there to vanish, replaced by a yet stronger tidal current running in the opposite direction.
With little wind and against the tide much of the fleet tacked for the shore, splitting the fleet into a group of leaders (headed by Lyons and Holman) and chasers that would endure to the finish. Bright sunshine and tell-tale gathering clouds promised a sea breeze that began to materialise in time for race five. Ross, after a characteristically good start, led to the windward mark. Lyons followed and in protest at the presence of the spreader mark, ignored it, sailing off downwind. Hewitt, ever the opportunist, sailed around the offending buoy and after allowing Lyons just enough time to commit to his political statement, encouraged him to do the same before catching Ross.
It was at this point that the sea breeze, ever promising but never quite delivering, gave up the pretence and provided a building wind that at times pushed 13-14 knots. The Blazers, remembering what those bits of scaffolding were put there for, responded eagerly and the final race provided the best sailing of the event. Hewitt, with the meeting already secured from the penultimate race, did not let up and led from the gun to win with a total of 7 points. Lyons finished second in both race and event, on 9 and Beddows, keen for the “in the top three” sales opportunity followed on 16 points.
It is customary at this point to say “A good time was had by all,” more accurately...
Good Boat, good Breeze, good Barbie, good Band, good Beer.
What more could we ask for?
Jon (611) Saunders
Results
| Rank | Boat | Name | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Nett |
| 1 | 760 - The Frothy Walrus | Andrew Hewitt | (5) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7. |
| 2 | 750 - (Pure) Fun & Magic | Mike Lyons | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | (4) | 2 | 9 |
| 3 | 570 - Firebolt | Simon Beddows | 1 | 4 | 4 | (5) | 3 | 4 | 16 |
| 4 | 751 - HMS Boyo | Chris Holman | 3 | 8 | (27DNF) | 2 | 11 | 3 | 27 |
| 5 | 723 - Too Much Too Young | Alex Williams | 6 | 6 | 5 | (7) | 5 | 6 | 28 |
| 6 | 714 | Leslie Ross | (27DNC) | 3 | 21 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 39 |
| 7 | 566 | Jon Powell | (14) | 7 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 39 |
| 8 | 758 | Pete Barlow | 8 | 11 | 6 | (19) | 17 | 5 | 47 |
| 9 | 764 | Ben Fullalove | 11 | 13 | 10 | 12 | 9 | (18) | 55 |
| 10 | 575 | Richard Hill | 15 | 9 | (18) | 8 | 15 | 10 | 57 |
| 11 | 743 | Bob Cowan | 12 | 16 | 9 | (17) | 10 | 11 | 58 |
| 12 | 690 | Tim Powell | 17 | 17 | 7 | 16 | 6 | 13 | 59 |
| 13 | 731 | Tim Davidson | 4 | 5 | 3 | (27DNC) | (27DNC) | (27DNC) | 66 |
| 14 | 753 | Peter Knight | (25) | 14 | 16 | 14 | 7 | 15 | 67 |
| 15 | 654 | Paul Taylor | 9 | 18 | 13 | (20) | 13 | 14 | 67 |
| 16 | 662 | Ross Prytherch | 7 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 16 | (19) | 68 |
| 17 | 733 | Andy McIvor | 16 | (23) | 12 | 13 | 12 | 16 | 69 |
| 18 | 611 | Jon Saunders | 20 | (25) | 17 | 10 | 14 | 17 | 78 |
| 19 | 695 | Martin Hughes | 23 | 22 | (25) | 9 | 19 | 8 | 81 |
| 20 | 637 | Roger Cerato | 10 | 19 | 14 | 11 | (27DNF) | (27DNC) | 81 |
| 21 | 762 | Roger Williams | 13 | 15 | 8 | (27DNC) | 27DNC | 27DMC | 90 |
| 22 | 766 | John Abbott | 22 | (26) | 22 | 22 | 18 | 12 | 96 |
| 23 | 604 | Mike Bell | 18 | (24) | 23 | 15 | 20 | 20 | 96 |
| 24 | 700 | Mark Astbury | 19 | 10 | 19 | (27)DNC | 27DNC | 27DNC | 102 |
| 25 | 669 | Chris Coleman | 21 | 20 | 20 | 21 | (27DNC) | 27DNC | 109 |
| 26 | 740 | Chris Fuller | 24 | 21 | 24 | 27DNC | 27DNC | 27DNC | 123 |