Northampton Sailing Club 21-22 September 2024, sponsored by Pinnell & Bax.

The weekend started on Friday afternoon with some unscheduled training with bright sunshine and a pleasant 12-18 Knots of breeze straight down the lake, Northampton delivered some champagne conditions late into the evening, followed by a trip to a local hostelry for a debriefing and a bit of carbo-loading.

 Saturday dawned sunny & still the wind direction from an excellent direction, which built to 15 knots by the 12:30 start time.

Race 1 (The windiest one)

Race one started on time with the fleet split along the even start line. First to show at the windward mark was Will Gulliver, using all his local knowledge, followed by John Greenwood & Matt Howard, making a welcome return to the Finn fleet. Greenwood managed to get inside Gulliver at the twin leeward marks and built a lead hounded by the fleet behind, but Greenwood could only cover one side when the pack split and lost some ground on the boats coming in from the left, there then followed an uncharacteristic mistake by Greenwood during a tack letting Howard through, who sailed away for his first victory of the weekend followed by Greenwood & Will Guilliver.

Matt Howard wins race 1

Race 2 (The one where we upset the thunder gods)

Race 2 was delayed as the wind continued to clock eastwards and dropped significantly. The race started with around 5 knots of breeze, about 5 minutes into the race it started raining, a huge monsoon like downpour the wind disappeared completely, and then the thunder started, far away at first. The race officer abandoned the race and, a few minutes later sent the fleet ashore. By this time, the thunder and lightning were all around the fleet, and the stragglers were hit by an almighty squall which lasted for about 10 minutes, then the wind dropped to nothing, and all further racing was cancelled for the day.

Race 2 (The resailed one)

Sunday dawned grey with rain in the air, Race 2 started with 15 knots that dropped throughout the race. Matt Howard led at the first mark but was passed by Greenwood downwind, who this time held on for his first win of the event.

Race 3 (The Light one)

The Oscar (pumping flag) came down for this race as it started in 8-10 knots. Greenwood began to well and although pushed by Howard for most of the race, led from start to finish. The fast-finishing John Mackie finished off the podium, with Tim Newton getting his best result in 4th, not bad for the triathlon king who only weighs 77kgs.

Race 4 (The close one)

Greenwood and Howard had a real humdinger in race 4, the lead changed many times over the 3-lap windward leeward course, However, Greenwood was again in the lead when it mattered at the finish with Howard again in second, and John Mackie again in third.

Race 5 (The final one)

The wind returned for the final race of the event, the chocolates were just about sorted, this was about the last step of the podium. It mattered little that Howard led Greenwood across the finish line for a fine victory. Back in the pack, Mackie & Gulliver fought like prize fighters, with the result only becoming apparent on the final run of the final race. The club, its members & the race officials were thanked, together with our title sponsor Pinnell & Bax.

Full Results:

Report by Will Gulliver.