Three wins from as many races on Sunday ensured that Mark Scourfield won Welland Yacht Club’s Grounds Trophy.
All of the eight competitors were greeted with a welcome breeze, which was forecast to grow as the day progressed.
The wind was blowing directly into the club house for race one, but it was Scourfield in the Solo and Geri van Haren (Phantom) who were able to pull clear of Alan Cox (Laser radial) and Andy Agar (OK dinghy).
The next leg saw Van Haren go clear in the faster boat, leaving tacking duals between Scourfield and Agar for second place.
At the turning mark it was van Haren first, followed by Agar – but when he caught a gust rounding the mark and broached, it allowed Scourfield to get through on the inside for the run back.
Disaster then struck as van Haren managed to fall out of the boat and also suffered sail issues, which he resolved to cross the line first as usual, followed by Scourfield, Cox, Agar and Bell. After handicaps were applied it was Scourfield first, Cox second and Bell third.
Race two saw Scourfield get away nicely again, with van Haren in pursuit. They were away followed by Cox, Bell, Agar and Neil Tack and Rebecca Slator (Graduate).
Without any incident it was van Haren who sailed into the lead, enjoying the stronger breeze which had caused some issues for Richard Stedman (Laser), who caught a gust on and took a swim.
In the end van Haren crossed the line first, two minutes ahead of Scourfield with Bell managing to hold off Cox for third.
Once handicaps were applied it was Scourfield who took the win, two minutes ahead of Bell in second with Cox coming in third.
Conditions were ideal on race three, with the wind behaving at its best.
It was Agar and theTack and Slator duo who managed to get the best start and were away followed by Scourfield, Bell and Cox.
On the tight reach it was Scourfield who managed to get through in the gusts and take the lead of the race.
Places were mainly held in this and Scourfield rounded first with clear air and managed to take the lead which he held to the finish, followed by Bell and Cox, with Agar following ahead of Tack and Slator – but were to leapfrog Agar to take fourth place on handicap.
With handicaps applied the order of finishing in the top three was the same as the end result on corrected time.
Overall, Scourfield took glory on three points, with Bell second on seven points and Cox third on eight points.
- Anyone wanting to find out more about sailing should contact the club via email [email protected].
