Mark Scourfield and Gail Follington were both on winning form as Welland Yacht Club contested three races in two different competitions on Sunday.
Two rounds of the Sunday Points Series were completed first, before the day of sailing in the sun was rounded off with the opening round of the Commodores Points Series.
Sunday also saw something that had been lacking in the previous two weeks – some wind. Indeed, with a forecast of ten knots and lots of sunshine, five boats took to the water for the Sunday Points opener.
However, it wasn’t plain sailing for most of the boats as the weed growth in the river outside of the club made it very difficult to get into clear water, with two members missing the start.
And, while Andy Agar (in an OK) and Gail Follington (Comet) were entangled in weed, Richard Stedman (Laser Radial) had failed to put his lifejacket on and had to return to the bank to comply with the club rules.
So, it was Scourfield (Solo) who was away on his own, crossing the shortened start line (because of the weed) and racing clear at the front.
The course was shortened to two laps and, on the final one, three of the boats rounded buoy three on the incorrect side, meaning they were forced to retire.
That left Scourfield, who had held onto his lead on handicap in first place, with Alan Cox in his Laser Radial rig in second .
Lessons were learned from the first race and boats made an early start to get to the line in time in the second.
It was Agar and Follington who were away in first and second place from the start, but the Solo of Scourfield was soon through into second position.
An atacking contest between the top two continued to the turning mark and it was Scourfield who managed to steal through just in front, followed by Agar, Follington and Cox .
With the wind direction and strength constantly changing, Cox and Follington were able to take advantage and closed the gap on the other two boats who were having their own battle.
By the close it was Agar crossing the line first, followed by Scourfield – but they were not far enough in front of Follington, who took first place on corrected time.
That also meant Scourfield was in second on corrected time, with Cox in third.
The first Commodores Points Series outing of the season closed out the action, with the wind again variable in strength and direction.
Scourfield was away first, followed by Cox, Follington and Agar – which was the pattern for the remainder of the race.
Unchallenged at the front, Scourfield was able to extend his lead throughout the race and crossed the line four minutes ahead of Cox, followed by Agar then Follington.
After handicaps were applied it was Scourfield first, Follington second and Cox in third with the OK of Agar in fourth place.
Anyone wanting to find out more about sailing should contact the club via email at [email protected]
