Mark Scourfield took the plaudits as he raced to victory at the penultimate round of Welland Yacht Club’s Frostbite Series on Sunday.
On what was a chilly and foggy morning, eight boats took to the water – although the wind was the lightest it has been for a number of weeks as it barely hit 6mph.
That made for a slow start, with all of the boats jostling for the most advantageous spot on the start line.
The three Solos of Scourfield, Ian Thompson and Nick Bonser took the middle part of the course, while the five Lasers opted for the two ends of the line.
The short upward start to the first mark was a tight affair, but Scourfield was the first to round the mark, followed by Richard Holland and Ben Parsons in their Lasers.
The fleet then started to find clean air and the odd gust of wind, which Scourfield and Holland initially got the best of, allowing them to put some distance between themselves and the remainder of the fleet.
After rounding the downwind mark, the boats headed back towards the clubhouse, but at this point the wind had dropped further allowing some of the boats behind at the start to close the gap on the leaders.
As they rounded the windward mark for the last time, Scourfield continued to lead but was being closed down by Andy Prior in his Laser, with Thompson in another Solo only a short distance further back and close on his tail was Richard Stedman’s Laser.
The fleet made their way back to the downwind mark for the last time, which after rounding was a straight race to the finish line.
The boats continued to seek out the elusive small gusts to give them that vital lift seeing places change during this final leg, with Prior crossing the line first followed by Stedman and then the two Solos of Scourfield and Thompson.
Alan Cox crossed fifth, with Holland sixth, and the Laser of Parsons seventh, while Bonser in his Solo followed in eighth.
Once the handicaps had been applied the final result saw Scourfield take the win from Thompson, with Prior down in third.
Steadman was fourth, while Cox, Holland, Parsons and Bonser placed fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.
The final race of the series – and the club’s Brass Monkey regatta – takes place on Boxing Day (Sunday).
Anyone wanting to find out more about sailing should contact the club via email [email protected] and somebody will be in touch.
