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Written by Michael Pickett
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Wednesday, 18 June 2008 |
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Or was it the Dodd, Pickett and Turley open? Derek Dodd
was the race officer with Mick Pickett and Mr Turley assisting with
launching and doing rescue boat. The weather was not anything like
that of the previous two weeks; with a wind of about force two and a
cold drizzle most of the time. This could have deterred some
potential entrants into the event so a select band of just four boats
participated.
The first race, at 10.45, started down river with a mile
long beat. Unusually the two-handed boats led the way, followed by
the single handed boats (Peter Moulton sailing thus in this race).
The boats were very close, with three taking the south bank and Nigel
Darby staying near home on the north bank. By the first mark Nigel
had joined the rest and started moving forward in the fleet. Matthew
Pickett rounded first followed by Nigel Darby, Jon Hunt and then
Peter Moulton. They continued in this order to the next mark which
placed them on a long run home. As expected, the single-handed boats
were a bit faster than the two-handed ones over this stage and the
order changed, with Nigel taking line honours.
After a quick and much needed tea the next race started.
This was mostly up river with a short leg in the Eyott creek. The
rescue boat led the boats to the marks to ensure that the visitors
did not get lost. This was not really necessary as Nigel led all the
way, after a small problem at the start. The wind was very light in
the creek and this helped to spread out the fleet. There was no
overtaking during this race and the boats just got further apart.
Matthew tried the other side of the river on one leg but only managed
to slightly close the gap on Peter who had gained a crew for this
race and seemed much more at ease. The wind and rain seemed to
increase on the way back to the club with the temperature dropping.
Despite the small turnout and organisational problems
the competitors had a close and enjoyable competition. Prizes of
wine were given to the first three boats. The full results are
detailed below.
| Heron No. |
Helm |
Crew |
Club |
Race 1 |
Race 2 |
Overall |
| 9891 |
Nigel Darby |
|
Eyott S.C. |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| 9812 |
Matthew Pickett |
Frankie Turley |
UP River Y.C. |
2 |
3 |
2 |
| 10019 |
Peter Moulton |
Claire Pickett |
Chipstead S.C. |
4 |
2 |
3 |
| 7 |
Jon Hunt |
Verna Hunt |
Chipstead S.C. |
3 |
4 |
4 |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 19 November 2008 )
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