Miracle Southern Area Championship at Whitefriars Sailing Club

Miracle Southern Area Championship at Whitefriars © David Evans

Miracle Southern Area Championship at Whitefriars © David Evans

Eleven Miracles arrived at Whitefrairs Sailing Club for a weekend of close racing and varied weather, where they were joined by a fleet of 14 Mirrors. For the second year in a row, it was real treat to see the sister boats out together; something that appears to be a unique sight in the calendar.

The first race started with a light breeze which soon dropped to almost nothing. Being on the line was critical in the light conditions, with Wayne Atherton & Angel Sweeney getting off the line well with Simon & Julie Dolman in 'hot' pursuit. On the downwind leg, with barely enough wind to fill the spinnakers, Simon & Julie kept their momentum to take the lead, which they would hold to the finish. On the following beat, Andrew Robinson & Hannah Mumford tacked left early and made the decision pay, turning 5th into 2nd. Father and Daughter Simon & Leora Munro had a good race finishing in 3rd, with Wayne & Angela finishing 4th. Hannah & Tom Metcalfe Smith came in 5th, and despite a slow start, Paul Robinson and Karen Glisson finished a well-earned 6th. One of the most notable pieces of sailing all weekend, was produced by John Tippet & Kathy Boulton, who despite being half a leg behind the rest of the fleet at the hooter due to arriving at the club late, still managed to cross the line in 8th.

Following a break to allow the wind to fill in, everyone headed out to the second race in a steady breeze. Andrew & Hannah got to the windward mark first but were shortly overtaken at the gybe mark by Wayne & Angela. Despite putting Wayne & Angela under pressure, Andrew & Hannah couldn't find a way past allowing Wayne & Angela to take the 2nd race honours. Carolynn and Nick Smith finished ahead of Hannah & Tom Metcalfe-Smith in 3rd place after some close racing. The second race was where a weekend-long fight first took hold further down the fleet, with David Dyson & Joseph Griffiths battling all the way to keep Andrew Clark & Julian Vinnerby behind them, but failing to overhaul Simon & Leora; a pattern that was to continue into Sunday.

Miracle Southern Area Championship at Whitefriars - photo © David Evans

The fleet enjoyed a fish and chip dinner and a sunny evening in the club bar.

Sunday saw shifty winds of ranging strengths, with the Miracle fleet being supplemented by the final boat; Rick Smith & Teddy / Ben joining for the day in Miracle 3813. The first race began in heavy winds, with Andrew & Hannah again leading into the first mark but this time maintaining their lead and pulling away from the fleet. Wayne & Angela finished strongly in 2nd following a close race with Hannah & Tom and Simon & Julie who finished 3rd and 4th respectively.

With a continuously building breeze race 4 started, with different boats adopting different tactics. A close race for the lead between Hannah & Tom (opting to use their Spinnaker) and Simon & Julie (opting to leave theirs in the chute) ensued. Hannah and Tom made good use of the spinnaker downwind, but on the close reaches Simon and Julie kept within touching distance. It was in this 4th race where Paul Robinson and Emily Hocking impressively delivered their best result of the weekend, earning a very hard-won 5th place, despite being one of the lightest crews in the field. Toward the end of the race, Andrew and Julian changed tactics and opted for the kite, something that was too much for David & Matthew Dyson, who's capsize left Andrew & Julian to finish ahead.

Miracle Southern Area Championship at Whitefriars - photo © David Evans

Heading into the final race, any of the top 4 boats could win the event. Simon & Julie established a lead and extended this further as Wayne & Angela and Andrew & Hannah battled for 2nd place right up to the line. Richard & Ben Smith got their best finish of 5th ahead of Paul and Emily.

Congratulations to Simon & Julie winning the Miracle Southern Area Championship. Andrew & Hannah narrowly pipped Wayne & Angela to 2nd place on a tie breaker. The results table shows just how tight the points were for the top 3 positions.

A massive thank you to Whitefrairs SC for being great hosts of the Miracle Southern Area Championships. A huge thank you too, to the race team led by Liz MacDonald, and all the other duty team volunteers who made this event a great success.

Overall Results: