Scorpion End of Seasons at Pennine Sailing Club
by John Tailby 6 Nov 09:20 UTC
2-3 November 2024
Scorpion End of Seasons at Pennine Sailing Club © Carl Jones
Twelve brave Scorpions headed north to Pennine Sailing Club on a seemingly bleak forecast in search of the legendary Pennine Force 5. Whilst we didn't get a force 5 it was a pleasantly surprising force 2 gusting 3 which lead to some very tight tactical racing.
Andy McKee and Steve Graham were once again paired up and immediately showed their intent by leading race 1 from start to finish. Ancient mariners Nigel and Jerry also showed impressive speed coming in 2nd. After a close battle to the finish new to the fleet sailors, Sam and Richard in 2009, overtook Chris and John to come 3rd. Pennine locals Steve Walker and Chris Muxworthy came in 5th followed by Tom Daniel and Jake Willars who managed to get round together without their usual wise input from Alison. A special mention should also go to Rich Jones sailing with his son Jack (racing in his first Scorpion open!) who rounded the windward mark in 2nd - watch this space...
The front 4 of the fleet remained the same for races 2 and 3 except for Chris and John managing to hold off Sam and Richard to take 3rd in both races. Cillian Dyne sailing with dad Phill also showed some impressive speed, but this was just them warming up for Sunday...
The fleet then headed ashore and were greeted by some Scorpion Association booze before heading into town for a curry - thanks to Yatesy and Stevie Walker for organizing!
Sunday morning dawned with some sore heads and a distinct deficiency of wind - however after some umming and ahhing the wind filled in more consistently and most the boats launched - unfortunately it wasn't quite tempting enough for the Eastbourne sailors who, with the prospect of a 260 mile drive looming, decided to head home - understandable!
Race 4 began in much the same way as the previous day with Andy and Steve leading from start to finish. Cillian and Phill had clearly been giving us all a chance on the Saturday and decided to put their foot down and held 2nd place for the vast majority of the race, until Chris and John just crept past on the final run after coming back from being OCS and having to go back around the end of the line.
The final race of the season was a close affair between 2022, 2026 and 2018 for the podium, but as usual Andy and Steve took a final bullet. They were followed by Chris and John who beat Nigel and Jerry by a fraction of a second. Phill and Cillian were once again on the ball and came in 4th.
This wrapped up a great season of Scorpion sailing with the venues for the 2025 series now live! There will be a separate series round-up coming shortly.
Overall Results:
1st Andy Mckee and Steve Graham 2022
2nd Nigel Potter and Jerry Hannabuss 2018
3rd Chris Martin and John Tailby 2026
4th Sam and Richard 2009
5th Cillian Dyne and Phill Dyne 1983
6th Steve Walker and Chris Muxworthy 1880
7th Tom Daniel and Jake Willars 2017
8th Cheryl Wood and Theo 2056
9th Rich Jones and Jack Jones 1947
10th Chris Yates and Dave Barker 2048
11th Neil Peters and Ann Whitfield 2044
12th William Pinnock and Mike 1992