Trident Yorkshire Youth at Halifax Sailing Club

The 31 competitors who travelled to Halifax SC on 17th May were greeted by a pleasant force 3. By the time they launched the wind had risen a little but the only reefed Topper on the water was that of Oliver Wright. Clearly the other Topper sailors were undaunted by the forecast!

The RS200s of Alex Good and Ben Lister blasted off the line in race 1 and in very little time had pulled out a huge lead from the rest of the fleet. However the vagaries of the handicap system meant that their corrected times were split by Ian Dobson’s 420 and Chris Duffin’s Laser.

For the second race the wind dropped a little but the racing was again very close once the calculator had been applied. Good held on to first with Lister second and Dobson third. During the between-race period a torrential downpour brought with it a huge increase in the wind. The Toppers remained unreefed but many regretted their decision as swimming became the order of the day. Lister and Good flew around the course in clouds of spray, lapping some competitors twice. They swapped places pulling further and further away from the fleet but again the calculator created havoc – James Lewis (Laser) won the race with Anthony Murray (Topper) taking second and Good third.

An exciting day’s racing with more interest coming into the results as discards come into play. The series continues to be led by Chris Duffin, with Matthew Winter currently lying second and James Jagger third.

Overall Results: