Sunday saw the start of the Frostbite series which will take racing at Welland Yacht Club up to and including Boxing Day with two races each Sunday.
Sailors were greeted with overcast skies and a breeze that was better than forecast but would still provide challenges in strength and direction.
Eight boats came to the start, the wind blowing almost straight down the river with a slight bias for a port end start, which would give an advantage but boats would have to give way to those on the opposite tack.
It was Mark Scourfield in the Solo who risked this and just about cleared the starboard tacking boats of Gerri Van Haren in the Phantom and the Lasers of Mark Holland, Alan Chapman and Alan Cox, followed by the Solo of Helen Boyd and the Comet of Richard Stedman and the Solo sailed by Adam Stabler.
Close cross tacking and covering was the order of the day and places would change depending if you got a wind lift but by Chilver’s Corner it was Van Haren who had taken the lead to round number 3 buoy followed by Scourfield, Chapman, Holland and Cox and these had pulled away from Boyd, Stedman and Stabler.
With a run back to the clubhouse with the wind behind, the Solo and Lasers caught Van Haren and by the turning buoy, it was Scourfield who had managed to sneak through, Van Haren second and the three lasers of Cox, Holland and Chapman very close.
More close cross tacking towards Chilver’s Corner and one of these instances resulted in Chapman taking an unexpected swim at Shelly Bush Corner.
Van Haren once again managed to get in front and rounded the 3 buoy just ahead of Cox, Chapman, Holland and Scourfield.
These four boats arrived at the same time to round and there were a number of infringements and it was Scourfield who benefitted and avoided the penalties to take second place.
Van Haren crossed the line first as the course had been shortened to two laps, followed by Scourfield, then the Lasers of Cox, Chapman and Holland, followed by Boyd, Stedman and Stabler. After handicaps applied it was Sourfield first, Cox in second, Chapman third, Holland fourth, Van Haren fifth, Boyd sixth, Stedman seventh and Stabler eighth.
The second race, which saw eight boats with the addition of William Stabler in the club Topper, started with a changed course but still a beat upriver.
Again it was Scourfield who was away, closely followed by Chapman and Holland in the Lasers. Cox mistimed his start, thinking there was still a minute to go, and found himself facing the wrong way at the off.
The wind had stayed the same with calm patches and spots where you would get a lift and that is what happened to Cox.
With Scourfield and Chapman cover tacking, Cox managed to creep up and the stretch between Shelly’s Bush Corner and Chilver’s Corner was in contention once again.
Scourfield rounded first, followed by Chapman and Cox, and while Scourfield and Chapman were involved in protecting their wind on the run, Cox crept though to take the lead and rounded the clubhouse buoy first, a lead he held to cross the line first, followed by Scourfield, Chapman and Holland, who all finished in the same minute. They were followed by Boyd, Stedman and Adam Stabler, with a special mention to son William, who stuck out the race even though the wind strength did not favour his boat.
When the handicaps were applied it was Scourfield who finished first, just 30 seconds ahead of Cox, with Chapman third, Holland fourth, Stedman fifth, Boyd sixth, Adam Stabler seventh and William Stabler eighth.
