4 Fireballs racing the in the Fast fleet
There was a massive turnout of 74 boats for the second week of Alton Water’s nine-week Frostbite series, which is sponsored by Zhik through their east coast outlet Seamark Nunn. With six out of nine races to count, those who were recovering from New Year’s Eve and missed the first race have plenty of time to make their mark on the series and the local fleet was boosted by many entries from the sea clubs of Brightlingsea, Royal Harwich, Dabchicks, Deben and Waldringfield sailing clubs.
The five class starts comprised twenty in the fast handicap (including several Musto Skiffs, Fireballs and Merlin Rockets), six Phantoms, a massive 24 Lasers (17 Standards and 7 Radials), 15 medium handicap including Larks and RS200s as well as some single-handers and 9 Slow handicap including Cadets, Teras and Topazs. The starts were excellent with a good spread down the line but no-one over. The Race Officer set a course of 4 laps for the Fast Handicap and Phantoms, three laps for the Lasers and Medium and two for the slow fleet and with the laps having two beats there was plenty of scope for place-changing and some very close racing. The wind was a fairly steady WNW 10 - 12 knots with bands of wind travelling down the reservoir so good timing to catch the gusts was vital.
The finishing was a little frantic for the committee boat people as the aim was to finish all the classes at roughly the same time so the second race could be started as quickly as possible.
Provisional Race 2 Results: (top three)
Fast handicap
1st David & Celia Charlton – Merlin Rocket, Brightlingsea SC
2nd Dan Willett/Pete Nicholson – Merlin Rocket, Brightlingsea SC
3rd John Glasspool – Kestrel Alton Water SC
Phantoms
1st Jez Taylor – Alton Water SC
2nd Matt House – Alton Water SC
3rd Ian Clarke – Alton Water SC
Lasers
1st Ben Stone – Standard, Waldringfield SC
2nd John Russell – Standard, Alton Water SC
3rd Rheanna Pavey – Radial, Alton Water SC
Medium Handicap
1st Henry Mills/Oliver Jones – Lark, Waldringfield SC
2nd Stephen Videlo/Maddie Harris – Lark, Waldringfield SC
3rd Harry Pynn/Gemma Cook – Lark, Waldringfield SC
Slow handicap
1st Fiona Mulcahy – Tera Pro, Aldeburgh YC
2nd Annie Knott/Ellie Wootton - Cadet, Waldringfield SC
3rd Sam Yale/Henry Chatterton – Cadet, Alton Water SC
The Frostbite race is followed back-to-back by a second race which forms the Sub-Zero series which Frostbite entrants can do at no extra cost. Some sailors gave in to the lure of a Sunday roast but there were still 55 starters for this second race, which has three starts; Fast handicap which includes the Phantoms, Medium handicap including the Lasers and Slow handicap. The same course was sailed as in the morning but there were a few more capsizes as sailors were beginning to tire and get cold, resulting in some retirements. In the fast handicap Dan Willett and Pete Nicholson were 1st in the Merlin Rocket with Mike Bees in an RS300 second and Alan Krailing/Tim Linsell 3rd in a Fireball; in the Medium handicap Stephen Videlo/Maddie Harris were first in a Lark with James and Steven Clayton 2nd in an RS200 and Rheanna Pavey third in the Laser Radial. Annie Knott and Ellie Wootton took the honours in the Cadet in the slow fleet with Fiona Mulcahy second in the Tera and Edward Harris and Faye Chatterton third in a Cadet.
Full results can be found at www.altonwater.co.uk
If you’d like to come and join us for some excellent racing in rural Suffolk, be quick as the Frostbite Series is nearly at capacity
