HD Sails Streaker Southern Paddle open meeting at Burghfield Sailing Club

A Chipstead SC boat clinched victory at the hotly contested HD Sails Streaker Southern Paddle Open Meeting at Burghfield Sailing Club on Saturday 14th September, but not before RRS A8.2 had been used to separate a three-way tie for first place!

Blue skies, warm sunshine and a mirror calm greeted the Streaker sailors as they arrived at Burghfield Sailing Club for the penultimate event of the HD Sails Streaker Southern Paddle 2024 Open series. Although the early weather signs were ominous, the forecast was optimistic and, true to form, at 11am as the slightly delayed race briefing took place under the club balcony a warm south westerly of 10-15 knots filled in across the lake. The Race Officer made the most of the conditions, setting a testing beat up the lake followed by several tricky downwind legs to complete a simple triangular course. Judging and not getting caught on the wrong side of the wind shifts and maintaining good downwind speed would prove to be the keys to success.

Race one saw Veronica Falat (Waveny & Oulton Broad YC) set the early pace, pulling away nicely up the beat and rounding the windward mark in first place. Stephen Dickinson (Burghfield SC), Simon Gillow (Chipstead SC), Peter Blackman (Burghfield SC) and Mark Langston (Waveny & Oulton Broad YC) rounded next in the chasing pack. Veronica held her lead for the first half of the race despite pressure from Stephen and Simon. But on the third lap Veronica momentarily fell off the pace, allowing Stephen and Simon to get through, with Peter and Mark close behind. A downwind tussle of who could sail closest to the lee on the last lap, saw Peter and Mark manage to overhaul Veronica as they gybed onto the final downwind leg. But Veronica wasn't giving up easily and a last minute charge saw her edge back in front of Mark and round the leeward mark right on Peter's transom. Stephen took the win with Simon in second. Peter managed to fend off Veronica long enough to take third with Mark fifth.

1954 Stephen Dickinson - HD Sails Streaker Southern Paddle open meeting at Burghfield - photo © John Grey

After a welcomed lunch break in the warm sunshine, and with the breeze holding up nicely, the fleet headed out for two back to back afternoon races.

Race two saw a familiar 'order of play' quickly establish itself with Veronica, Simon and Stephen breaking away from the rest of the fleet. Simon rounded the windward mark this time to take the early lead with Veronica and Stephen in hot pursuit. Mark and Peter formed the chasing middle pack with the rest of the fleet battling it out behind. Simon Beddows (Burghfield SC) clearly decided he wanted to be in on some of the action and by the second beat he had reeled in Mark and Peter, catching Peter on a close starboard call and forcing him into a penalty. But luck was not on Simon's side as he found himself on the wrong side of the next shift, allowing Peter and Mark to rebuild the gap and round the windward mark ahead. Up front the positions were tight and the top three places were being hard fought. By the end of the third lap Veronica had managed to pull clear, crossing the line in first place, with Stephen second and Simon third. Another close downwind battle saw Peter take fourth place with Mark fifth and Simon Beddows sixth.

The third and final race saw a last minute wind shift create a strong port end bias on the start line. As most of the fleet charged away from the pin end, Peter was caught knapping with a poor start by the Committee Boat putting him at the back of the fleet. The same leading threesome pulled away at the front and the battle for the top three overall positions was at stake. As the race progressed, Peter had managed to claw his way back into the middle of the fleet but Mark Langstone was holding him off comfortably as they made their final approach to the windward mark for the last time. Mark tacked a little early allowing Peter to make the most of the clear air and head up onto the lay line before tacking onto starboard and rounding the windward mark several boat lengths ahead. The wind then started to fall away as the 'front three' could be seen desperately gybing on top of each other as they battled intensely for position in their approach to the leeward mark. Simon Gillow rounded first to take line honours, making it a different winner in each race, with Veronica taking second and Stephen third. Peter crossed for a comfortable fourth while Mark took his third fifth of the day.

1709 Simon Gillow - HD Sails Streaker Southern Paddle open meeting at Burghfield - photo © John Grey

So after a very tight and competitive day of racing in glorious conditions, and with the discard applied, the final scores showed a three-way tie for first place between Simon Gillow, Veronica Falat and Stephen Dickenson. With the top three boats all having a first and second, RRS A8.2 was needed to separate them on the result of the final race, with Simon taking a well deserved first place, Veronica second and Stephen third. Peter Blackman secured a solid fourth place with Mark Langston fifth and Simon Beddows sixth.

Thanks go to Burghfield Sailing Club for hosting the event with three well managed races and for keeping us well fed from breakfast right up to the cakes, tea and coffee at the prize-giving. A big Burghfield thanks also go to all the visitors, some of which had travelled a considerable distance to take part. Here's to next year's event.

Overall Results: