North West Area Championship Report - Hollingworth Lake SC - 13th/14th May 2006
Report - Graham Knox After a week of warm sunshine, it was a shock to find a cool wet weekend for sailing at Hollingworth Lake, near Rochdale, as it welcomed 28 GP 14s. It proved to be a closely fought event with a strong ‘gold fleet’. A results tie for the lead went in favour of Matt Mee and Jonny McGovern of the host club when they won the last race. The wind was light to moderate easterly with shifts that were difficult to read. At one stage in the first race it seemed as if Innes Armstrong and Tom Bennett had an unassailable lead but Neil Platt and Phil Smith read the shifts right and Mee fought through to take second, ahead of Any Hateley and Andy Thompson. A change of course of race 2 saw Ian Dobson and Andy Tunnicliffe take the lead from Neil Platt with Hateley again third and Mee fourth. Contrary to the forecast, Sunday offered the same conditions and this time it was Mark Platt with Rob Senior who took the lead, ahead of Dobson, with Luke Shaw and Jim Toothill coming in third. During the lunch break it seemed as if the wind was swinging to the south, giving Race Officers Matthew and David Winder a difficult time setting the course. The wind was very light at the windward mark, but Mee got away round it and built a substantial lead. The pursuing pack caught up and Bill Kenyon and Mike Senior gained the lead for a while, only to lose it to Mee who therefore took the Championship and promptly jumped into the water with crew to celebrate. Results: 1. 13911 Matt Mee/Jonny McGovern (Hollingworth Lake
SC), 7 points Silver Fleet - 13864 Nick Brook/Steve Heywood (Hollingworth Lake SC) Bronze Fleet - 13694 Gareth Hughes/Dave O’Callaghan (Hollingworth Lake SC) |