The season kicked off for Sutton Bingham Sailing Club with first leg of their annual three way challenge with neighbouring sailing clubs, Lyme Regis and Castle Cove. The event attracted the best entry for many years with 28 boats including representation from 19 different dinghy classes. Both visiting clubs fielded teams of six with the total points from the best five carrying forward to the team scores.
The lake was as glassy as a millpond as sailors arrived to rig up, but after a short postponement racing got underway in a light, shifty 6-8 mph breeze, which gradually increased and veered northerly throughout the day. The victors in each race were those that extracted themselves successfully into clear wind from a busy start line and used the wind shifts and patches of strongest wind pressure to their advantage.
Young local sailor, Andrew Frost, who has recently been awarded a bursary by The Rotary Club to support his sailing and competition this summer at the inaugural RS Aero World Championships, won the first two races to secure overall victory and win the Icicle Trophy. Runners-up were Sam and Megan Pascoe form Castle Cove sailing a Merlin Rocket and third Jerry Rook and Fraser Earle in an Albacore.
Sutton Bingham had strength in depth and so took a convincing win in the Triangle Challenge between the three clubs: Sutton Bingham 92 points, Castle Cove 137 points and Lyme Regis 235 points. The next leg of the Triangle Challenge takes place at Castle Cove Sailing Club, Portland Harbour in June.
In the head to head between Sutton Bingham and Lyme Regis for the Banbury Chaser Cup Sutton Bingham won 63 points to Lyme’s 143.
Full event results are available at http://www.suttonbinghamsc.net/w/race-results-2017/
