Mighty Mark Scourfield toasted a winning treble in Welland Yacht Club’s Tulip Trophy on Sunday.
Scourfield won all three races contested on a day when only six boats took to the water, with all of the regular laser boats not in action.
Race one saw the wind direction in a more normal quarter – giving a tack away from the club house up river to the number four buoy.
A number of boats experienced some gear issues before the start, which resulted in them having to put into the bank to rectify.
But it was Scourfield in one of the four solos on the water who managed to break away from Clive Herd and crew in the refurbished graduate dinghy, who were a close second.
The fleet quickly spread out, though, and Herd found himself in trouble and on the second straight had to call it a day and retire.
With the wind becoming fickle in strength and, with it coming over some high trees, it played havoc with direction and left the remaining competitors having to show patience at times.
With the wind starting to drop the race officer decided to shorten the course to one lap, meaning results after handicaps applied saw Scourfield win from Eric Murray and Helen Boyd.
The change of course kept the tacking down to a minimum in race two.
Nick Bonsor sat out this race, but Martin Cook (solo) joined the fleet.
It was once again Scourfield and Herd who led the boats away from the clubhouse followed by Cook and Boyd.
The top two boats managed to stretch their lead and were involved in a close tussle for the lead on the water with this changing a number of times during the race, while Cook had also managed to secure third place.
After just under an hour it was Scourfield who took line honours from Herd while, after handicaps were applied, Cook completed the top three.
Herd made the best start to race three and managed to clear the fleet, with Scourfield chasing.
With the wind dropping, Murray called it a day while Cook and Boyd persevered and kept the lead two boats just in sight.
Herd and Scourfield were never more than 50 yards apart all the way round and, in the final run to the clubhouse gybe mark, it was Scourfield who had right of way.
Herd managed to capitalise on a mistake and sneaked through to take line honours by 13 seconds, but handicap meant that Scourfield was close enough to claim first place.
Herd settled for second, with Cook in third and Boyd just behind in fourth.
Overall Scourfield finished on top with three points with Boyd second on 11 points and Herd third with 12 points.
- Welland Yacht Club are holding their annual Open Day on May 15.
The day gets underway at 10.30am and ends at 3.30pm, with refreshments available.
Taking a change of clothing and footwear is recomended.
The club will welcome allcomers to their Cradge Bank base and encourage all to give sailing a try.
