An impressive 12 boats took to the water for the annual Tulip Regatta at Welland Yacht Club on Sunday.
Contested in an ever increasing wind, Andy Prior (Laser) took first place in race one ahead of Tom Bell and Ros Nickols by a short margin.
As the wind increased Bell, using the smaller Radial rig on his Laser, managed to reverse places one and two.
This meant that the regatta would be decided in the final race – and as boats jostled for the best starting place, Prior managed to capsize his Laser on the start line with seconds to go.
He was then run into by the Graduate of Neal Tack and Rebecca Slater, resulting in a hole in the side of the Graduate and a retirement.
Prior righted the boat, but was a good 100 yards behind the leaders. He eventually managed to catch Bell, only to capsize again.
That left Bell to take top spot in the race and the overall regatta from Prior and Nickols. Emma Agar took a well-deserved fourth place, sailing a reefed Topper.
- Welland Yacht Club’s annual open day is on May 15 (11.30pm-4pm).
