Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club

Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club House

A couple of inches of snow in the morning did not deter sailors from racing at the lake on Sunday 11 April. There was another great turnout for those keen to be on the water. But the wind was reluctant to settle in any certain direction.

There were three different race winners in three different classes of boats. It was the Solos that came out on top overall and best able to cope with the variable conditions.

Merlin Rocket sailors were keen to show that they were on the pace and, in the first race, Les Bithell and Emma Turner took the win beating the expertise of Steve Crook and Sally Townend finishing fourth. In between, Julian Parry was trying the Phantom single-hander to come in second ahead of Martin Brennan (Solo).

Conditions in the second race did not improve with flat spots to slow down everyone. The single handers coped best with the Solos doing best in the hands of Andy Carter and Martin Brennan. They were followed in by Chris Massey and Evan Parry in Lasers.

There were fewer takers for the third race. The wind had now settled in to a north westerly direction. Rounding ahead at the first mark, Richard and Heather Marsh (RS400) hoisted their spinnaker and found a good breeze to carry them across the lake. As the others got to the mark, the breeze had all but disappeared and the Marshs were out of sight. Despite the benefits of the handicaps for the slower boats the lead was not threatened. This time Martin Brennan got past Andy Carter in a close race for the runner up spot with Chris Massey in fourth place.