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| Comments for 'Datchet Cat Open' |
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| Posted by NickH on the 1 June 2009 |
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Day 1
Everyone turned up for the Datchet Cat Open, with a bunch of F18 and other fast cats there too. Day 1 got underway, with the dragoons on the third start. The speedy F18’s had just about done a lap as the dragoons started and they were quickly swamped by them. Patrick and Benedict Harrison won the first race. Adam and Jack came second with Jess and Rhys third. The second race got off to a weird start, with only Adam and Jack actually starting on their gun. The other dragoons didn’t realise the start was actually theirs! Adam and Jack won the first race followed by Patrick and Benedict. Jessica and Rhys again took third. Adam and Jack again won the third and final race of day 1. Jessica and Rhys finished second but unfortunately missed out the gate on the way to the finish, and subsequently got disqualified. Patrick and Benedict, who where overtaken on the line by the disqualified boat. Therefore finished second.
By Adam and Jack Murphy
Day 2 - Race 4
The second day had started with around the same conditions as the previous day; around 5 knots in a constant breeze but with few pressure differentials for the good, along the right hand side of the course where most of the dragoons stayed. Race 4 started with Jack and Adam bringing up the front with now a slightly bigger gap between first and second. They had perfected their light wind sailing and were taking the fleet with ease. There was a fight for second and third between Patty and Benny and Jess and Rhys, but on the second leg up wind Patty and Benny took advantage of some heavier wind to the far right hand side and managed to edge ahead for the final leg down wind. Patty and Benny finished second with Jess any Rhys coming close behind. The all girl team Siobhan Alicia and were catching up the head of the fleet with 4th.
Race 5
There was a huge gap of 1hour 20 minutes for the dragoons between race 4 and 5 but as it finally came to a start Jack and Adam were racing ahead. Due to the wind shift Patty and Benny unfortunately did a gybe on the start to avoid a windward boat, this put them in last position on the first leg. Alicia and Siobhan had also had a good start and were in contention for the lead. By the rounding of the bottom gate Adam and Jack were in first position with Siobhan and Alicia in second Patty and Benny in 3rd and Jess and Rhys in 4th. Patty and Benny did all they could to try and catch the girls but with their superb sailing this was an impossible task.
By Patrick Harrison
6th Race
Following the large postponement after the first race on Sunday, the second race proceeded as did the final race of the series promptly after.
The unpredictable winds prevailed as the sailors tried to compose new strategies on how to round the course successfully. First off the line was again Adam and Jack closely followed by Patty and Benny whilst Tim and Kit also got a good start. Patty and Benny took a gamble by taking a different route.
First to round the windward mark were (no surprises) Jack and Adam, closely followed by Patty and Benny, after having evaded the fast and furious F18s and other Cats.
Matters were made interesting when the wind picked up slightly and conveyed yet again in a NW direction. First to notice the wind shift were Patty and Benny Harrison and adapted their tactics accordingly. After having noticed an advance in the Harrison’s pace, the other sailors amended their course also.
The second lap was similar to the first for the Dragoons, but more spread out, with Jack and Adam closely followed by Patty and Benny. Jess and Rhys also came close behind and a few boats taking up the rear.
As the first sailors rounded the second windward mark, it became apparent that not gybing round the spreader but continuing straight on was not only the quickest option downwind, but also the more fun and faster route. Patty and Benny unfortunately found this out.
First to end the Cat Open was Adam and Jack who slipped ahead of Patty and Benny for not only the win but also the title of the second TT of the series. This gives them two TT wins out of two.
Reported by Alex Gorringe
Overall everybody raced well with some pulling out the front of the fleet and some doing really well to hold on to the back of the ever speeding front of the fleet.
The final results of the series were
1st Adam and Jack Murphy
2nd Patrick and Benedict Harrison
3rd Jessica and Rhys Cooke
4th Alicia Clifford and Siobhan Lamb
5th Tim & Kit Cope
6th Louis & Alex Gorringe
7th Hannah & Josh
8th Jack & Joe
Well done all those who competed!
Report by Patrick Harrison
In the handicap class there were 25 boats, four of them youth Spitfires and 2 Hobie 16 Spinnaker ISAF teams. There were 6 F16’s from Datchet that despite local knowledge didn’t get a look in at the front.
Some strange scoring in the 3rd race skewed the results somewhat but we will not deny Josh and Freddie the win as they sailed well and were pushing Henry and Rupert all weekend. James sailing with rookie Sam seemed to get stronger as the weekend went on with two creditable seconds and it was only the capsize in the last race that kept him out of the cups, losing narrowly to Peter Richardson on the Spitfire and Sam Rowles and Gilly on the Hobie 16.
Overall results
1st Henry & Rupert White - Spitfire
2nd Josh Hunt & Freddie White - Spitfire
3rd Peter Richardson & Fenella Miller - Spitfire
4th Sam Rowles & Gilly Sutcliffe – Hobie 16 spinnaker
5th James Henson & Sam Mee – Spitfire
9th Adam Butler & Nikki Boniface – Hobie 16 spinnaker
10th Gary & Charlotte Jackson – Spitfire
There were 25 very competitive boats in the F18 with our own Dragoon Coach picking up the honours with Rob Wilson on the Shockwave. The Dragoon connection does not stop there with a very creditable third place to ex Dragoon champion sailors Sam & Ben Newton.
Another ex Dragoon sailor Andy Sinclair crewing for Grant finished 7th overall.
Yet another ex Dragoon champion Seb Greber was crewing for Jon Worthington and finished 8th, which would have been much better had it not been for an OCS in race 2 on the Sunday.
Finally ex Hobie 16 youth sailors Luke Butler finished 15th and Tom Walker crewing for John Tuckwell finished 16th.
This all goes to show that the Junior and Youth training programme produces very high quality sailors.
Overall Results
1st Rob Wilson & Ed Barney – Shockwave
2nd Hugh Styles & Greg Windle – Nacra
3rd Sam Newton & Ben Newton – Hobie Tiger
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