IOCA Northern Random Pairs Championship at West Kirby Sailing Club
by Mark Creasy, Optimist Class Captain 20 Sep 2017 03:21 PDT
16 September 2017
IOCA Northern Random Pairs Championship at West Kirby © Allen Gregory /
www.4yourwalls.photography
Bright sunshine welcomed the 21 boats to the first Optimist Team Racing event held in the north of England for some time. The idea for the event was encouraged by Alan Williams and Peter Johnson, and what a good idea it was.
WKSC, a club with Team Racing very close to its heart, had an expert event director Chris Riley and PRO Adam Whittle to run the day's non-stop race action.
The random pairs format does not require team entries which makes entry so much easier.
The briefing for many new to team racing was met with some hesitancy by many competitors, and the parents looked really confused, however as soon as racing got underway at 11am it was clear that they got it.
Over 50 races were held, with no time to stop for lunch. Go, go, go!
At the end of the one day event, local lad George Creasy narrowly defeated Bruno Nicholas (LLSC) for the Cannon Trophy. However the real winners were the other competitors who had spent the day improving their boat handling, their rules knowledge and a day's sailing that gave every helm a day to remember as the first day they had team raced at WKSC.
Next year IOCA is keen for the event to return to WKSC with a similar format. The Club looks forward to welcoming up to 40 boats looking for an exciting day's sailing action.
Full results can be found at www.wksc.org.uk/results1