Shadows on top

[brucevigar]

Huge congratulations to Olly who took home the Bitburger Trophy for winning the Colne Point race outright at yesterday's East Coast Piers Race. A great 'advert' for the Class as a wide variety of single-hander cats was represented in the large field. Race report to follow soon.

Bruce
002

[OllyH]

As usual, the East Coast Piers race was a fantastic event- really well run and with a great atmosphere.

Saturday's racing was mainly light and shifty- In the first race I was 3rd to the windward mark behind the aweseome new Nacra 20 and Simon's Shockwave. In the midst of some excitement trying to stop Oli Northrop getting water on me I brushed the flag of the mark. I did my turn with the kite up- it worked- just! Then the wind went very light and making against the tide was difficult so the faster boats did well. The second race was better and I managed 5th overall.

Sunday morning dawned with light breeze to take us out of the river. A feature of the ECPR is the early morning wakeup on the PA system. Not so sure about "Sweet Caroline" at 0600! The organisation was amazing as ever- the scrutineers even had the list of safety equipment on the back of their T-shirts!

This year, the Colne Point Race had more entries (40+) than the ECPR (about 35?) which made for great racing for everyone. Starting with the tide and wind with us was tricky and only Phil Neal on his A-Class made a really nice start. There was enough breeze for the F16s and lead Spitfires to pull away but just before Bradwell baffle, the breeze increased on the right and I was able to start catching them. Stuart Smith on his Topaz 14 was worryingly close to me at Bradwell- going very well downwind.

The leg to Colne Point was mainly a hull flying fast run, gybing to try to find the best breeze and least tide coming out of the Colne. I raced closely with Spitfires and F16s, but Simon (our Letshaveachat host) was miles ahead on his F16 Stealth and first to Colne. Also going very well was Paul on his F16 Falcon- had he not capsized (twice) after hitting the bottom in the estuary, he may have won.

On the way back, I made up a lot of distance on the Spitfires and F16s in the increasing wind and chop. Once back inside the Estuary it got a LOT windier and gusty and as the Spitfires and F16s got overpowered, I pulled up to 3rd on the water, behind local sailor Paul on his F18 and Paul Warren's F16. Close to the finish, David Lowe on his A Class come close to passing me but I just held him off.

Full results on www.eastcoastpiersrace.com
1st Olly, Shadow, Weston
2nd Paul & Caroline, Nacra F18, Marconi
3rd Stewart, Topaz 14, Grafham
4th Sam & James, Spitfire, Felixstowe
5th James & Josh, Spitfire, Weston

There were also a Dart 15 and Dart 18 in the top 10 showing how well the rating system works.

The ECPR was won by Matt and Luke on their F18 Wildcat from Weston, so good results for my home club! Line honours went to Elmo on the Nacra 20 and there was talk that both course records had been broken.

I urge all Shadow sailors to go to this event next year.

[davidbrief]

Well done Olly! How did everyone else do?

[OllyH]

Good point David

It's not the sort of race where you really know what other boats are doing unless they are really close to you- the distances and spread are too large. But Bruce finished the Colne Point Race and Paul Jarvis the full ECPR in what were for much of the race quite testing conditions- it's a long way back from Walton so I guess Paul might ache a bit today- well done indeed.

It's a real shame that we didn't get more Shadows as there are quite a few on the East Coast and it's such a great event.

I have to go next year to take the trophy back so hopefully we can get a good turnout then!

Olly

[brucevigar]

Originally Posted by davidbrief

Well done Olly! How did everyone else do?

According to the results there were 44 starters in the Colne Point race (the one that counted towards our TT series). I finished 35th. The downwind start was entertaining and I followed in Olly's wake at the Committee Boat end as there was carnage looming on the pin end. There seemed to be a large clutch of boats caught in a log jam and a lot of shouting. Up to colne Point I was somewhere in the mid-field. On the up-wind return I broke away for a while but as cramp in my leg started to set in I had to trade a lot of places trapezing on starboard tacks became too uncomfortable for long periods. That said, I really enjoyed the race and learned a lot and although, embarrassingly, there was only the two of us entered in this Shadow TT event, I am happy to take the points for 2nd place as I feel I earned it.

As I have to start thinking about next year's events I would like feedback from you all as to what do you want? What is it that will make more of you to take part in Shadow TTs? One thing is certain, we can't expect event organisers to host our TTs if we can only field 2 or 3 boats as has happened twice this year (at Gurnard there were only 3 travelers as well).

So please start sending your ideas through nowso that we can discuss the provisional calendar at our AGM during the Nationals.

Bruce
002

[davidbrief]

Next year I will definitely be doing more as full time work ends in May! I had intended to do the Piers but various things conspired against me.

[andrew.berisford]

Hi All

as a new member I plan to attend the TT's next year, so hope to swell the numbers out and about in 2011. Hope to meet many of you at Brightlinsea later this year! regards Andrew

[ptanner2611]

Olly well done it a great result for the Class . Bruce congratualtions on coming second at the TT. Paul well done for finishing the main 3 piers race talking to Olly the conditions were pretty challenging so well done and like you said its a real achievement for a singlehander. Sorry I could not make the event ...... unforntuatley work has kept me away from home too much recently and just not enough browny points to pull off being away all week , going to sailing on the weekend and then away again this week.
One good point won my first race at Gurnard on Sunday proving weight helps when it blows.
On the TT front I think you will find that turn outs are down in most classes this year certainly the Sprint 15 are down this year. Available time and cost are always the issues. I hope we can get a good turn out for the nationals hopefully at least 6 from Gurnard. Also I expect we will get a good turn out for Grafham but please come to Nationals its a great event .
Like Bruce said any feedback on where we should go would be great for 2011.

Paul
GBR 018