Only five boats take to the river

With a few Welland Yacht Club members having prior commitments for the bank holiday weekend five turned out for Sunday’s racing.
The first two races of the day were three and four of the Pursuit series, where the class handicaps are applied up front to allocate different start times for each class. The theory being after the race duration all boats should be roughly level.
With no wind and a fairly fast river flow, all five boats failed to cross the start line at their allotted time.
It took several minutes for Gerri van Haren in his Phantom to pull away, then a slight breeze allowed progress for all, although Eric Murray in a Laser Radial had retired through frustration before getting over the start line.
The other competitors had managed to progress, and by Shelley’s Bush Corner the order was van Haren, from Alan Cox (Laser), Alan Chapman (Laser) and Helen Boyd (Solo), suitably decked out in red white and blue.
At the end of the race van Haren held the lead by 10m from Cox, then Chapman and Boyd 70m behind.
For the second race of the day, a slight breeze meant all got away well at their relevant starting times.
At buoy four Cox was leading from Boyd, then Chapman, van Haren and Murray.
On the run back to clubhouse van Haren passed Chapman and Boyd who traded places on the race back to buoy one, both of whom caught van Haren just before the clubhouse.
At buoy one rounding, Cox had a 50m lead from Boyd, who had water on van Haren and Chapman.
A wide rounding by Boyd allowed van Haren through on the inside with Chapman snapping at their heels.
Chapman and Boyd continued their duel and at the 50-minute bell, the finishing order was 1st Cox, 2nd van Haren, 3rd Chapman, 4th Boyd and 5th Murray.
The final race of the day was no five in the Afternoon Points series.
With only three boats remaining all got a clean get away with Cox taking the lead from Boyd, followed by Murray.
The positions would remain unchanged for the entire race and stayed the same after handicaps applied.
pAnyone wanting to find out more about sailing should email the club [email protected] The club is also holding it’s annual open day on Sunday, May 21 from 12pm- 4pm, so why not pop down and experience sailing for yourself?