K1 Open at Broxbourne Sailing Club
by David Hume 31 Oct 2017 10:32 UTC
28 October 2017
Broxbourne K1 Open © BSC
Keen K1 competitors for the last event in the 2017 traveller series had to show some patience while PRO Peter Selway delayed proceedings awaiting Windguru's promised fresh westerly to arrive.
The first race eventually got underway in a lack lustre south westerly, David Hume in K1-111 led around the first mark and soon built a solid lead, this he maintained until he 'parked' on a downwind leg and was joined by Mike Deane in K1-106 and Paul Handley in K1-53. An exciting tussle developed between these three for the remainder of the race, the lead changed three times on each successive lap with barely a few boat lengths between each contestant. David Hume finally prevailed followed closely by Mike Deane then Paul Handley.
After an enjoyable lunch the wind had perked up some with added gusty shifts and the course was altered to align the windward legs for the final two races. More significant was the arrival of Andrew Snell in K1 -127. In the course of the first lap of the second race David Hume worked up a manageable lead only to collide with a windward mark. The resultant turns allowed others to close up and Andrew Snell eventually broke through into the lead. A close struggle developed between K1-127 and K1-111, with bare a few boat lengths between these two for the remainder of the race, which Andrew won. It was surprising that despite the cover tacking involved the leading two boats pulled out over a leg in front of Mike Deane and Paul Handley, who were having their own battle for third place and which went to Paul.
Andrew Snell immediately seized the lead at the start of the crucial third race and he was initially closely challenged by Paul Handley followed by David Hume and these three quickly broke clear of the fleet. Paul subsequently fell away after unsuccessfully trying an alternative windward lane to break through, leaving David to take the challenge to Andrew. David managed to narrow Andrew's lead down to a boat length on a few occasions – probably assisted by the shifty conditions – but Andrew maintained control and ably won the event.
Overall Results:
1st Andrew Snell K1-127 (Lyme Regis) 2pts
2nd David Hume K1-111 (Broxbourne) 3pts
3rd Paul Handley K1-53 (Chipstead) 6pts
4th Mike Deane K1-106 (South Windermere) 6pts
The Broxbourne K1 Open was the last event in the 2017 K1 travellers series, the series comprised seven events in separate venues including the Teign estuary, the south coast, Solihull, Windermere, Rutland, Oxford and the Nationals at Datchet Water. 34 different Helms took part over the series. David Hume was awarded Trophy for the 2017 series, counting two 1sts and three 2nds, the full results will be published shortly on the K1 Association Website. An exciting series is already planned for 2018, which will include the Inlands at Rutland on the first weekend in June and the Nationals in Torbay on the first weekend in September.
Broxbourne now has one of the largest K1 fleets in the UK, the club is situate in the Lee Valley approximately seven miles north of Junction 25 of the M25 so affords easy access to greater north London, Hertfordshire, Essex and parts of Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire. The K1 has a light easily driven high performance epoxy hull with carbon spars and uses mylar sails, it is a one design so success is perhaps more dependent on the skill of the helm, than the size of his cheque book, plus the bulb keel provides for a welcome stability on those tricky gybes. So if you have run out of crews or just like to sail on your own the K1 might well be an option for you. Broxbourne runs points races for K1's most Sundays throughout the year, holds junior training on Saturday mornings. Full details of all activities are shown on the club website.