Father and daughter duo Paul and Lucy Burton clinched glory in Welland Yacht Club’s Frostbite Series after winning the annual Brass Monkey Trophy race on Boxing Day.
The weather was kind to the eight crews who took to the water for the season finale, with a brisk wind straight down the river providing a challenging start and a long race up to the top of the course.
It was the Andy Prior and Tom Bell pairing who made the most of it, with their quicker Scorpion turning the mark first. However, the Burtons in their slower Graduate weren’t far off the pace.
The RS 200 of Alan Cox and Roger Ackroyd had been closing fast, but the strong wind got the better of them and they took a dip into the freezing cold waters.
The return downwind leg provided some challenging sailing for the boats, but it did also allow Prior and Bell to fly the Scorpion’s spinnaker to good effect, extending their lead to a couple of 100 yards by the end of lap one.
Behind them, the Laser of Ivan Hirst just managed to overtake the Burtons.
Hanging on to the main fleet was Emma Agar, who was sailing well above the Topper’s slower handicap.
Lap two was similar, with Prior and Bell inching out their lead further in the hope of beating the slower boats on handicap, as well as on the water.
After they crossed the line first, all they could do was study their watches as it was going to be very close.
With all of the boats finished, the officer of the day calculated the final handicap results – and it was the Burtons who had won by just three seconds from Agar, with Prior and Bell a further ten seconds behind that to take third place.
Hirst came in fourth, with Cox and Ackroyd fifth having failed to make up for the lost time in the water.
In sixth place was Alistiar Mitchell in his Laser, with the Enterprise of Andy Agar and Gerri Van Haren and the Magno of Andy and Emma Dodson both succumbing to the strong wind and failing to finish.
With the race also counting as the final race in the Frostbite series, it was double delight for the team of Paul and Lucy Burton as they took overall series honours ahead of Emma Agar in second.
Ivan Hurst managed to take third place from Prior and Bell on countback, with Cox and Ackroyd fifth with Mitchell sixth.
This series marked the end of another stellar season for Welland Yacht Club, with racing commencing again in April.
