Nineteen Streakers entered the second event on the Sail Register sponsored Streaker Northern Paddle series on Saturday 4th May. The wind was fairly light with some interesting gusts, the direction continued to shift during the day. And as a small water the dam wall and the trees gave some interesting challenges for most of the day.
In the first race the boats quickly headed to the windward mark at. In the fairly light wind, the windward mark came in and out of the wind which meant that hard fought leads came and went in the leg. Ian Jones (Dovestone) established an early lead followed by John Hollis (Pennine) and Alan Gillard (Sheffield Viking). On the second lap Alan passed John, but he couldn’t catch Ian and had to settle for second. John Hollis (Pennine) ploughed a lonely furrow never challenging for second but also never looking in danger of losing third.
After an excellent lunch, the OOD set a new course and the wind shifted again leaving the boats going onto the water wondering where the beat was! Harthill water though did not disappoint and beats arrived on some legs and then as quickly disappeared. Alan Gillard this time showed steely determination at the start led the pack at the windward mark and then simply sailed away from the chasers. In second was John Burgoine (Tamworth) followed by Ian Jones and Matt Whitfield (Tamworth). Ian Jones eventually found second and held on to ensure a third race decider, with John in third leaving the fleet behind. By the middle of the race Robin Jones a junior from Hykeham had worked his way up to fifth, but was eventually caught by Nick Lovell (Ouse Amateur) who squeezed passed Matt on the final lap. In the middle of the fleet positions changed with baffling regularity making the OOD sheet somewhat challenging. A tight course to get full advantage and challenge from the wind meant at times it looked like a red arrows display with boats crossing and close quarters all race.
In the final race, the wind had swung some more so the final course had a committee boat start!
Wind shifts again were a feature and the advantage of the dam wall came and went making the reading of the gusts and lifts an absolute priority to gain advantage. The fleet started on starboard, but Matt Whitfield and Peter Cogill (Rotherham) started on port, finding a gap near the committee boat and dam wall; John Burgoine led at the first mark with Ian Jones second with Matt and Peter not far behind. At the end of the second lap, Ian squeezed passed John, followed by Alan, Matt and Ian Whitfield (Tamworth). In the first few laps Ian Lees (Scammonden) worked his way through the fleet to fourth. On the sixth lap Alan passed John for second. On the penultimate lap Ian Jones seemed to have the race and meeting in the bag, however a drop in the breeze and some boats to be lapped though slowed his march to the line and Alan Gillard closed the gap and looked on the run to take the lead. Ian Jones though took a slightly better line and crossed the final mark in front and then held off the challenge in the last lap to win by 9 seconds. The pack though forgot about the gate finish and some interesting tacking to recover their line was much in evidence
The overall results were first Ian Jones, second Alan Gillard and third John Burgoine
SCOA prizes were won by Jon Aldhous (Beaver) and Ian Whitfield