12th - 13th May

Delph Sailing Club

By Nigel Reddecliffe

The 2007 Miracle Northern Championship was sailed at Delph Sailing Club on the weekend May 12th/13th in much better conditions than were forecast –Lancashire weather in recent years has improved significantly! – when a fleet of 18 boats sailed five races in fair, slightly shifty winds, which gradually backed over the weekend to provide a new course and fresh challenge for each race, to keep helms and crew alert and working hard. With well set lines, all five starts were clean on schedule and fair racing followed to the satisfaction and pleasure of all concerned.

 Indeed, force 2 and force 3 winds without sudden surprises meant no capsizes and to some extent the racing at the front end of the fleet was not a high spectators’ sport as the lead four or five boats became an established sight, sailing clear of the main body of the fleet.

 Wayne Atherton with Steve Wroe in “Merlin” proved an unbeatable team up front, whilst Louis Moulden had to employ tactical sailing to defend his second position against a steady performance by Rene Savelli in “Petticoats” and a continually improving Mark Atherton in borrowed 3747. More than once did Louis and Mark so doggedly engage in multi-tacking cover that they lost their lead over Rene, who consequently arrived at the windward mark rustling on their rudders and depriving them of spinnaker power on the next leg. Whilst Louis managed to sail clear on earlier races, he lost it on the last downwind leg of the last race as he and Rene looped each other in spinnaker spurts (and a spectacular avoidance manoeuvre when Louis’ tiller went AWOL) as Mark bore away from the fray and rode on to his win-of-the-day.

 Jon Aldhouse did well in the first race to arrive second at the windward mark and then, without using spinnaker, close up and hassle Wayne on the next leg, as the windshifts played games with “Merlin’s” spinnaker and whilst he did not manage to hold the position, he continued to sail well and deserved his final result. The pecking order in Race One became established during the second lap except for a finish line move which saw Tim Wareing (2772) hold off Brian Worrell in 3679 into 14^th place.

 For all the display of superior skill at the front end of the fleet, the real tussles and misfortunes were seen in the mid fleet contenders, as fleet order seemed to become dependant on spinnaker handling .. or spinnaker misfortunes in the shifty gusts -  both 1355 and 3493 having occasions of severe loss of placement as their sails became temporary sea anchors.

Altogether a successful weekend’s sailing fortified midway by the usual hearty barbecue, that has become a Delph signature, the final results were as follows:-         (Full results can be downloaded as a pdf here)   

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