LEIGH & LOWTON Sailing Club 2006

Leigh & Lowton Juniors didn't go travelling -
What happened to the Weather at Home?

25 degrees C, bright sunshine, nice breeze - fantastic sailing weather & far too nice for the working week.............
................. then Saturday 13th May dawned, cold, easterly force 3+, rain for rigging & an onshore breeze, well that brought everyone back to earth. The galley experienced a swift trade in hot drinks & bacon barms whilst the 34 Juniors arrived bright & early for the 4th in this 10 round series (perhaps a bit too early for the signing on team, must bring a faster printer next year). Gareth Williams was OD for the day he explained the simple course from the clubhouse steps during the briefing.

The Handicap racing was competitive throughout the fleet, the more experienced Laser sailors were tussling with the Topper Squad members at the front, the middle of the fleet was tight with plenty of place changes, a theme that was continued further down the order where those Juniors with less experience were having fun.
The reporter was drafted in to produce some results, thats just what the first set was - a draft, the glitch in the software was identified & rectified but not before a fraught lunchtime or before the competitors set off for the second race - Oh well, at least it made some even more determined to do well. Its a good job that we had some Sailwave experts on hand - times like this is when you find out who is actually an expert!

Race 2 saw Sarah, Gideon & Alice having close competion for most of the race, the Race Committee refused a very reasonable suggestion by one of the rescue coxes (who shall remain nameless, no, not related, honest!!) to shorten course on the second lap for the Toppers (the excuse being that this would make it easier for club racing to get under way) it would also enable Laura Barnes to finish 3rd Topper behind Elliot and Hannah Wilcock. This was not to be, another Topper passed her up the 3rd beat and Daisy managed to pass her on the second to last mark rounding, managing to sail above her. Bit more of Daisy's aggression required there Laura. Anyone getting into the top 10 in this fleet is sailing well & deserves a mention, Sophie got two great 4ths in her Laser Radial, Daisy a 5th & 9th, Sarah an 8th & 10th, Laura a 10th and Andrew Green a fantastic 7th in the last race - running 2nd Topper for most of the race & just overtaken by 2 boats in the last few metres - good sailing chaps.

It was Redesmere Topper sailor Elliot Hanson who took the series win, he took 1st in races 1 & 2, then gave everyone a 1minute headstart for race 3, being OCS - he fought his way back to finish 1:06 behind the leader. The Laser of Sam Thompson (Winsford Flash) was 2nd overall with Hannah Wilcock (Budworth SC) securing 3rd place. This racing is so close that the time difference between 1st & 10th was just 1min 30secs in the 3rd race - we'll all need Formula 1 race timers soon!

The Optimist fleet was split into two separate battles, Lucy Yeates & Rachel Wilcock continued the match race (& constant chatter!) that was started at Budworth a fortnight ago, this time Lucy took the 3 wins. Ben Fullard & (new to the NWJTT) Martin Wrigley, both aged 9 from Budworth & Bolton SC's had a cracking tussle, particularly in the last race when their positions swapped from leg to leg, Ben won the bout but I think that a rematch may be on the cards sometime soon.
The prizegiving was held at the end of the event where trophies were presented for the top three places in the Handicap, U14 & Optimist fleets, medals went down to 7th place in each fleet. Tom Keegan (new to Leigh & Lowton) was presented with a much sought after Juniors On Tour Polo Shirt as it was his first NWJTT event, then there were the usual chocolate presentations for the most boats brought by a visiting club - Redesmere - Resplendant in their Red Regalia, the Wigan sailors were given welcome to the series chocolates, then all the competitors received a chocolate bar. Boy, you do need to like Chocolate when sailing this series!

Next event - Ullswater 10th June

Series Results so far - Leigh & Lowton Juniors in the top places of both Handicap & Optimist fleets

NEW - GALLERY

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