A change of season brought 23 Fireballs to Notts County in early April this year instead of the traditional September visit.
Saturday's 1st race set the tone for the weekend getting away at the 2nd attempt under the black flag. The leading group battled all the way to the finish with Hope/Cooper taking the gun. Race 2 saw the same pattern as the wind continuing to blow a gusty Force 4 and gave Lewis/Byne in their old narrow bowed Winder the victory, with a 2nd in the final race of the day. Curry and beer followed. Hope and Cooper took the third race of the day with Lewis and Byne second.
No one seemed to have suffered from the evening festivities except perhaps the wind. Sunday morning greeted the competitors with a light and fickle breeze, but at least the sun was shining. The 1st race started with a black flag with a few unlucky boats being carried over the line early by a small gust. Inexplicably Vince Horey was amongst them. Cormack/Cormack got away and took a creditable win.
Going into the last race it was difficult to pick an overall winner. The wind seemed set to play a part in deciding the result. Mason/Hextall established a clear lead and seemed sure to win but as the wind became more and more patchy the fleet turned inside out and with Hope/Cooper and Smith/Mildred having already retired, Rush/Wagstaff with a large slice of good fortune, took the gun and the event by a point. A mention should go to Findlay/Anderton who sailed consistently well in tricky conditions and were unlucky to lose 2nd to Hope/Cooper on countback. A good warm up weekend was had by all in preparation for the Nationals in May. The fleet moves on to Grafham on the 18th and 19th April.
