Bright, sunny conditions and warm westerly winds greeted the visitors who joined the Budworth Fleet for their annual Fireball open. Who would be going home with the Fireball Challenge Trophy? Northern circuit points were on offer for the 2nd weekend in a row following the light winds at Ullswater the previous weekend.
Throughout the day the wind varied between 8 and 13 knots and provided excellent Fireball conditions, with the added challenge of the occasional Firefly to slalom around. The tight 'pond' courses were well set by the race team, although the shifty conditions meant the odd swim for some of the local teams. The event was won by Becky Priest and Tim Saunders who won all three races. They were pushed hard by last years winners, locals Russ and Ali Cormack who scored three 2nd places. Team Cormack lead the last race but Becky and Tim snuck past up the 2nd beat to complete the hat trick. Behind the scratch pairing from Scaling Dam of Ian Priest and Peter Clayton were quick if occasionally wet battling with the Cormacks. Team Blackpool(Jones) battled hard against Budworth Fleet captain Steve Crossley but local knowledge paid. They look forward to the return bout at Blackpool in September! Performance of the day was from class veteran Mike Guess crewed by John Smith, who completed all the races despite swimming on occasions. The award for worst boat preparation goes to Geoff Edwards. Only one race finished, broken main halyard, broken kicker, he was last seen mumbling something about chandlery and new ropes and next weekend's Inland Championships!
Overall Results 3 Races, 2 to count.
1st, 14954, Becky Priest, Tim Saunders, Staunton Harold SC, 2pts
2nd, 14837, Russ Cormack, Ali Cormack, Budworth SC, 4pts
3rd, 14909, Ian Priest, Peter Clayton, Scaling Dam SC, 6pts
4th, 14525, Steve Crossley,Den Ditchburn, Budworth SC, 8pts
5th, 15035, Steve Jones, Peter Jones, Blackpool & Fleetwood SC, 10pts
6th, 14694, Mike Guess, John Smith, Budworth SC, 12pts
7th, 14953, Tom Ditchburn, Geoff Edwards, Budworth SC, 13pts
8th, 12179, Nick Groves, Paul Bolton, Budworth SC, 18pts
