Supernova Winter Championsips: Bowmoor Sailing Club

Driving into a bustling boat park under clear sky made for a great start to the Supernova Class’ 2018 winter championship event as, despite the deceivingly cold weather and a mixed wind forecast, 40 association members from near and far came together to kick-off the season in style.

Once again held at the wonderful venue of Bowmoor Sailing Club, Sailors were treated to complimentary bacon sandwiches and cups of tea which certainly warmed everyone up after rigging up to face the bitingly cold 15 knot North Easterly breeze with the occasional shifty gust. With support from Oxford Carriers and Force4 Chandlery there was sure to be some superb prizes on offer.

Cobwebs blown off boats and sailing gear, the fleet headed out after a briefing from the Commodore and Race Officer which built up anticipation for the first Championship racing of 2018.

Race 1 saw the fleet off to a great start with last year’s Champion Cliff Milliner (Cotswold) leading the way around the first mark followed closely by Tim Hand (Swarkestone) and Alex Collins (Bolton) with the fleet all bunched up together.

Fast forward towards the finish and 1st place Milliner had sailed to a reasonable lead with a fight for 2nd place taking place between Hand, Collins, Gavin Young (Cotswold) and Matt Biggs (Blithfield). On the beat, it was Biggs in the lead coming up towards the penultimate mark, but Collins came in on starboard, holding Biggs from tacking around the mark. This meant that at the finish it was Milliner, Collins, Biggs, Hand and Young rounding out the top 5.

Race 2 saw back to back racing, and a traffic jam soon developed towards the pin end as boats jostled for position.

As the fleet started, an individual recall was sounded with a couple of racers heading back down to the line to restart. Like in the first race, it was Milliner gaining the lead with Cotswold training partner Young a very close second. As the restarters fought their way back into the main pack, all the fleet seemed to be fighting forward at a similarly alarming pace. At the finish it was Milliner, Young, Hand, Charlie Sansom (Bowmoor Youth) and Matt Williams (Cotswold) rounding off the top 5.

After a cracking lunch put on by the fantastic galley staff it was time to get kitted up again with the soggy spray tops, gloves and hats not putting down the spirits of the racers.

Race 3 Kicked-off with a clean start by all with some of the fleet picking the left or right side of the beat while others played the shifts up the middle, taking gambles here and there.

Coming up to the first mark it all seemed very equal as shifts from multiple directions brought the pack together. Collins took the initial lead with Biggs behind chasing him down.

The first broad reach saw different strategies as half the fleet kept the angle and steady pressure toward the mark while others decided to gybe set down to try and stay in the stream of gusts coming down the middle of the lake.

Further into the race and now with Biggs continuing to build on his lead, the finish came up fast and at it Biggs who bagged the win with Collins, Sansom, Andrew Snell (ASA) and Mike Gibson (Bartley) in 5th.

With boats packed up and sailors changed, well-deserved drinks in hand, it was time for the prize giving.

Awards for first Lady, Veteran, Master and Youth were given out. So too were some ‘out of the hat’ prizes that gave the whole fleet the chance to win something. Young (4th), Collins (3rd), and Biggs (2nd) came up to collect their prizes and then it was time for Milliner to collect his trophy once again and deliver his speech.

A big thank you must go to Bowmoor Sailing Club for once again hosting us and putting together a very well organised and fun day of racing. Together with Force4 Chandlery and Oxford Carriers the prizes on offer were superb and it was great to have this support for our class. And lastly, Peter Mackin for taking some great photos of the day.

For more information on the Supernova class or to find out how you could join 109 other competitors for the 2018 nationals in Pwhelli, please visit: http://www.supernovadinghy.org Oxford Carriers: http://www.oxfordcarriers.co.uk/ Force 4 Chandlery: https://www.force4.co.uk

Sailed: 3, Discards: 1, To count: 2, Entries: 40, Scoring system: Appendix A

Rank

SailNo

Club

HelmName

Fleet

R1

R2

R3

Total

Nett

1st

1190

Cotswold SC

Cliff Milner

1.0

1.0

(7.0)

9.0

2.0

2nd

1175

Blithfield

Matt Biggs

3.0

(8.0)

1.0

12.0

4.0

3rd

1068

Bolton

Alex Collins

Youth

2.0

(9.0)

2.0

13.0

4.0

4th

1192

Cotswold S C

Gavin Young

5.0

2.0

(6.0)

13.0

7.0

5th

1087

Bowmoor

Charlie Sansom

Youth

(11.0)

4.0

3.0

18.0

7.0

6th

1195

Swarkestone

TimHand

4.0

3.0

(41.0 RET)

48.0

7.0

7th

1186

ASA

Andrew Snell

7.0

(10.0)

4.0

21.0

11.0

8th

1127

Bartley S C

Mike Gibson

Master

(6.0)

6.0

5.0

17.0

11.0

9th

1169

Cotswold

Matt Williams

(8.0)

5.0

8.0

21.0

13.0

10th

1201

Cotswold

Christopher Williams

(13.0)

7.0

11.0

31.0

18.0

11th

1059

Bough Beech

Richard Lambert

Master

10.0

(12.0)

9.0

31.0

19.0

12th

1176

Bowmoor

John Banbrook

9.0

(18.0)

10.0

37.0

19.0

13th

1036

Blithfield

Colin Anderson

14.0

11.0

(41.0 DNS)

66.0

25.0

14th

1223

Hunts

Jon Pebody

15.0

(17.0)

12.0

44.0

27.0

15th

1145

Bolton

Pete May

(19.0)

14.0

13.0

46.0

27.0

16th

1160

Cotswold

Paul Undrell

Master

16.0

13.0

(41.0 RET)

70.0

29.0

17th

1179

Bowmoor

Chris Hobbs

Master

(21.0)

15.0

14.0

50.0

29.0

18th

561

Bowmoor

Mark Hitchmough

Master

18.0

(41.0 RET)

15.0

74.0

33.0

19th

1203

Cotswold

Steve Johnson

Veteran

17.0

16.0

(18.0)

51.0

33.0

20th

1082

Blithfield

Tom Chadfield

12.0

22.0

(41.0 DNS)

75.0

34.0

21st

1137

Cotswold

Andy Gould

Veteran

(25.0)

20.0

17.0

62.0

37.0

22nd

1090

Swarkstone

Ian Barloe

22.0

(41.0 RET)

16.0

79.0

38.0

23rd

1069

Bowmoor

Brian Smith

Veteran

(30.0)

19.0

19.0

68.0

38.0

24th

599

Bowmoor

Christian Conlan

Youth

20.0

(21.0)

20.0

61.0

40.0

25th

1141

Cotswold

Ellen Clancy

Lady

(24.0)

23.0

21.0

68.0

44.0

26th

1062

Attenborough

Andrew Goodman

(29.0)

25.0

22.0

76.0

47.0

27th

1156

Attenborough

Rob Corner

Master

23.0

24.0

(41.0 DNS)

88.0

47.0

28th

1130

Attenborough

Nick Whilds

Master

(28.0)

27.0

23.0

78.0

50.0

29th

1177

Bowmoor

Pete Bingham

Veteran

(32.0)

26.0

24.0

82.0

50.0

30th

1083

Emberton Park

Serena Stewardson

Lady

27.0

(32.0)

26.0

85.0

53.0

31st

1080

Felpham

James Gerwat

Master

26.0

28.0

(41.0 DNS)

95.0

54.0

32nd

627

Swarkestone

Carl Martin

Veteran

(34.0)

34.0

25.0

93.0

59.0

33rd

408

Bartley

David Stephen

(41.0 DNS)

31.0

28.0

100.0

59.0

34th

692

Bowmoor

Peter Woods

Master

(35.0)

33.0

27.0

95.0

60.0

35th

1109

Cotswold

Lesley Jeanes

Lady

31.0

30.0

(41.0 DNS)

102.0

61.0

36th

1008

Hollowell

Norman Carter

33.0

29.0

(41.0 DNS)

103.0

62.0

37th

598

Emberton Park

John Human

Master

(37.0)

35.0

29.0

101.0

64.0

38th

707

Emberton Park

Ian White

Veteran

38.0

36.0

(41.0 DNS)

115.0

74.0

39th

436

Bowmoor

Martin Bazen

Master

36.0

(41.0 RET)

41.0 DNS

118.0

77.0

40th

1191

Bowmoor

Rachael Vaughan-Johns

Lady

(41.0 RET)

41.0 DNS

41.0 DNS

123.0

82.0