2025 BOTTLE boat championship at Waldringfield Sailing Club
by Roger Stollery 23 Aug 14:37 UTC
This event went extremely well with 15 races sailed in front of the clubhouse and with juniors outnumbering the more experienced sailors.
It was once again it a great spectacle and entertainment for the dozen families supporting their offspring, but very few of the general public on an unusually quiet Sunday. The variable westerly wind blowing over the clubhouse made sailing against the ebb tide very difficult and needed the utmost concentration to make any way. It. Rescue boatman Chris Mason laid a simple sausage up river/downriver course and racing was very competitive. There was a very exciting finish to the event with the 2 leaders within one point of each other after Race 14.
Race 1 was won by last year's junior champion, Elliott Mason after which Noel Fraser dominated with 3 wins, whilst Elliott's twin brother Ollie struggled to get the hang of the wind and had to be rescued to avoid going downriver to Felixstowe Ferry! He learned quickly and in Race 2 made a good start to finish 2nd to Noel.
The Club provided food to those that want it, but the activity at lunchtime was more to check on the technical problems, which were overcome by swapping hulls or rigs, as this is simple as they are all one design. 13 boats continued racing, with all but 3 boats winning a race. The dodgy light reaching wind was replaced by the sea breeze from the south, which added more excitement to the racing for both competitors and spectators. The most consistent in the afternoon were expert Lark sailor, Chris Fish and 12 year old Topper sailor, Ollie ending up after Race 14 with Chris on 40 and Ollie on 39 points with both needing a 1st place to win the Championship. Chris made the best start whilst Ollie had to sail through the fleet to catch up and didn't quite make it. He was pleased as the pair were miles ahead of the remaining fleet on points.
At the other end of the fleet, young Lucas Foppish was absolutely delighted to win that penultimate race after his elder sister, Cadet sailor Rosemary made a brilliant port tack start and led With a big lead until very close to the finish line, but ran out of wind in the lee of the club motorboat and couldn't recover and was passed to leeward by half a dozen boats led by her dad, Chris. She didn't mind and just shrugged her shoulders as just one of those things: if there was a prize for her sporting attitude she would have won it.
However there were prizes, both fun and practical, for all the competitors and something for all the helpers, presented by Kit Clark, who was delighted to give the prizes away, as she had never been asked to do this before and wondered what to say. This was no problem and great fun for Kit as you can see from the smiles in the photos. Chris Mason thanked the Stollery family race team of Peter, Linda and Roger for organising and running another successful championship.
Overall Results:
1st Chris Fish 41pts
2nd Ollie Mason 43pts
3rd Elliott Mason 54pts
4th Noel Fraser 57pts
5th Daniel Barnes 60pts
6th Robert Norris 61pts
7th Matthew Lake 66pts
8th Lucas Fish 81pts
9th Bernard Kufluk 94pts
10th Liam Barnes 100pts
11th Rosemary Fish 124pts
12th Emma Kufluck 174pts
13th Helen Price 175pts
Junior Championship Results:
1st Ollie Mason 43pts
2nd Elliott Mason 54pts
3rd Daniel Barnes 60pts
4th Lucas Fish 81pts
5th Liam Barnes 100pts
6th Rosemary Fish 124pts
7th Emma Kufluk 174pts
8th Helen Price 175pts