Helly Hansen Lark Great 8 Round 4 at Dabchicks Sailing Club
by Alan Krailing 14 Jun 2015 15:16 PDT
13-14 June 2015
The Larks made their first ever trip to Dabchicks Sailing Club for round four of the Helly Hansen Great 8 traveller series. They were greeted with some less than seasonal weather but enjoyed some fantastically competitive racing.
Three races were held on Saturday in breeze building to around 20 knots. Nigel Hufton and Will Kennedy, fresh from their win at Lyme Regis last weekend were clearly in the groove and shot into a comfortable lead up the first beat which they extended to the finish. Behind them Matt White & Jackie McKellar, Chris Holliman & Kate Hutchins and Alan Krailing & Joe Hunt were nip and tuck the whole way round with Matt & Jackie and Chris & Kate both coming past Alan & Joe on the run to the finish to take 2nd and 3rd.
Race 2 looked to be following a similar pattern with Nigel & Will again leading comfortably but another storming last run from Chris & Kate saw them plane through for the bullet. Steve Chatten and Fiona Gray picked their way through the up turned hulls to take 3rd.
The final race of the day saw a different leader at the top mark with Steve & Ally Hall picking up the batten followed by Alan & Joe and Chris & Kate again at the front. Alan & Joe used their extra weight to take the lead on a very tight 2nd reach, which they held to the finish. Steve & Ally held 2nd with Matt & Jackie coming through for 3rd.
Harry Pynn had flown his crew Dan Watson in all the way from Hong Kong especially for day 2 and it looked like it was well worth the air fare as they showed some great speed to overtake Alan & Joe to win race 4. Matt & Jackie continued their consistent weekend with 3rd.
The final race was started in shifty conditions and a strong ebb tide running, after much place changing Clare Walsh & Charlie Roome became the 5th different race winners of the weekend with Alan & Joe taking 2nd and the event, on the line, consigning Matt & Jackie to another 3rd place.
A big thank you to Dabchicks Sailing for hosting a fantastic event and to Helly Hansen for their very generous prizes.
The next event on the Helly Hansen Great 8 circuit sees the Larks return to the East Coast for Royal Harwich on the 3rd/4th July.
Overall Results:
1st Alan Krailing and Joe Hunt, 9pts
2nd Matt White and Jackie McKellar, 11pts
3rd Nigel Hufton and Will Kennedy, 14pts
4th Chris Holliman and Kate Hutchins, 14pts
5th Steve Hall and Ally Hall, 19pts
6th Harry Pynn and Clare Gosling/Dan Watson, 20pts
7th Charlie Roome and Claire Walsh, 20pts
8th Chris Whitehouse and Ruth Johnson, 20pts
9th Steve Chatten and Fiona Gray, 26pts
10th Nigel Denchfield and Fiona Denchfield, 38pts