Lucy Burton held firm to take overall glory in Welland Yacht Club’s personal handicap pursuit series on Sunday.
With a reasonably strong breeze and bright sunshine, all was to play for ahead of the race double.
The race durations were set to 50 minutes with ten boats taking part – including junior Christopher Seaborne, who set off with the other boats starting at their allotted start times. Paul Burton was the last to set sail nearly 17 minutes later.
By the midway point of the second leg, places had already been exchanged throughout the fleet with Lucy Burton now in the lead.
Seaborn was struggling to keep upright in the stronger gusts, but still persevering to see the end.
He wasn’t alone in the capsize stakes, with Tom Bell and novice crew Cameron White taking to the water a few times themselves.
With Lucy Burton coming under pressure from some of the faster boasts behind with about ten minutes to go, Andy Prior managed to pass her – taking the overall lead with Ros Nickols hot on her heals after the second spot.
In the end, Nickols managed to get past to take second place just before the finish.
Prior held firm to take the victory from Nickols, with Lucy Burton third and Martin Cook fourth.
With the result from the previous race leaving Lucy Burton and Prior now tied on points, it all came down to who finished above who for overall victory.
The wind had picked up a little for the start of the second race, giving the slower boats a boost.
Again, Lucy Burton took the lead by about the halfway point, with Prior gaining through the fleet along with a few of the other boats.
The first retirement of the day came when one of the double handers’ tiller extension broke and they had to limp back to shore. The other double hander soon followed.
With the 50 minutes soon coming to the end, Lucy Burton was closely followed by Nickols and then Prior.
With 20 seconds remaining Prior managed to take second from Nickols, but Lucy Burton held on to the win to give her overall victory in the series.
Prior finished second in the race and the series, while third place went to Neal Tack and crew Rebecca Slator, who didn’t compete on Sunday.
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