Nantwich & Border Counties Sailing Club 25th June 2005

Leigh & Lowton Juniors went travelling-
The Parents were Primed with Pimms at Nantwich

The 6th event in the 2005 North West Junior Travellers series was held at Nantwich & Border Counties on Saturday 25th June. After a week of hot weather whilst at work, it made a welcome change to arrive in the heart of Cheshire with more comfortable temperatures, grey skies & little wind. Nantwich members very kindly supplied free tea & toast on arrival which was very welcome. Yet again Leigh & Lowton made up the majority of visitors, there was a reduced entry overall - must have been something else going on(maybe the Southport Junior 12hr Race), the lake itself had its own unwelcome visitor in the form of weed - the position of which was highlighted at the briefing along with a few suggestions as to how to deal with it (or avoid it!). The wind direction was really difficult to pin down & the od made a good job of setting some courses that all were able to follow without problem.

Whilst the main prizes were being won by Sam Watson & Andy Hunter from the home club in a very professional performance sailing a GP14, Sophie managed, once again, to be the best placed Leigh sailor with some close fought battles against the Hanson brothers of Redesmere. This series is being taken seriously & appears very competitive, as the juniors find their confidence they are prepared to take further steps and a number of protests required hearing prior to the prizegiving. The finishing order of the other Leigh handicap juniors was Gideon Slayen, Daisy Murphy, Andrew Price and Laura Barnes. Andrew spotted an opportunity before race 3, he obviously needed some new sail telltails, so did a quick capsize straight on top of the weed - ended up with loads of telltails! - quick thinking or what!!

Lunchtime gave Leigh & Lowton parents the opportunity to activate the well oiled BBQ machine that friday nights at the club have been practise for. Don't be put off by the smokescreen - that was just to ensure that no-one pinched the best seating positions for the afternoons race watching (crafty or what!). The seating area itself was likened to the Stretford End, The Kop, Stowe Corner or the Centre Court at Wimbledon. It was after lunch that Liz spliced open the mainbrace & discovered a bottle of Pimms, some Lemonade, assorted fruit & a medium sized Jug - she put them all together & passed it round the spectating parents - all were nicely primed.

The Optimist fleet was made up of the Yeates sisters & Christopher Barnes. Sarah seemed to manage the tricky conditions best & won all 3 races with sister Lucy 2nd - Christopher had discovered a fascinating (& very, very entertaining) method of mark rounding (not sure about the term rounding?) it is entirely possible that he has studied too much RS400 racing at the Flash. This series has taught Sarah a great deal & she may turn out in a Topper in later events.

Next event Coniston Sat 9th July

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