Streakers and Solo’s enjoy breezy conditions at Yeadon

Yeadon Sailing Club hosted Streaker and Solo open meetings on Saturday 14^th October and competitors were greeted with sunshine, warmth and a brisk South Westerly breeze which unusually for Yeadon stayed remarkably consistent throughout the days racing.

Tony King winning Solo

After the usual welcome and briefing the fleet were soon on the water for race 1 and it was Alan Gillard who set the pace closely followed by Neil Dwyer and Peter Tyremen and despite Neil dropping down to 6^th due perhaps to “navigational errors” in the early stages he fought back well to finish back in second place to Alan who had held a comfortable lead throughout.  In the Solo fleet it was Tony King who stayed ahead of Tony Langley to take the win.

After an excellent Yeadon lunch, the fleets were back on the water for race two. The Solo fleet started first and part way to the first mark Tony King was having to make running repairs leaving Tony Langley to lead the fleet for the first two laps however by lap three Tony King was back at the front a position he held to the end.  In the Streaker fleet racing at the front was incredibly tight with Alan being pushed hard by John Southall then Neil and Peter however by the end John had slipped to fourth leaving the same three to take up the top three places as in race one.

Alan Gillard winning Streaker

After cake and a cuppa the Solo fleet of two decided not to race again and Tony King was able to make an early departure back to Cumbria with the trophy.  The Streaker fleet keen as ever were out for the start and raring to go!   Tom was once again first at the first mark but was always being pushed hard initially by Lucy Priest and John Southall before John dropped back and Neil Dwyer pulled through from fifth position in lap two whilst John dropped to sixth.  A tight race ensued with Neil managing to get passed Lucy to take another second place with Lucy finishing in third.

Overall a day of close racing which was good for competitors and spectators alike with plenty of shifts, changing places and even an odd swim or two.

Solo Fleet

1st	5408	Tony King	Bassenthwaite S.C.	2pts
2nd	4163	Tony Langley	Yeadon Sailing Club	4pts

1st	1951	Alan Gillard	Sheffield Viking S. C.	2pts
2nd	1822	Neil Dwyer	Hykeham S. C.	4pts
3rd	1801	Peter Tyreman	Pennine S.C.	6pts
4th	1616	Peter Kitchen	Tees and Hartlepool S. C.	9pts
5th	1933	Lucy Priest	Scaling Dam S.C.	9pts

Report: Howard Chadwick

Photo Credit: Clare Mortimer

Heron Mirror Open Meeting Report

On a very pleasant autumn day, with the wind reaching the heady heights of 2-3 mph S to S Easterly, Mirrors were conspicuous by their absence. Eight Herons, three home boats and five visitors (swelling to six when Peter Murgatroyd, an independent traveller from Cambridge,  and his daughter made it in time to tag along for the last race after overcoming some traffic issues) subjected themselves to the fluky drifting winds on the Tarn at Yeadon. Some single-handed, some double handed and a couple of spinnakers for good measure.

Race One got off to a slow drifting start with big wind shadows covering almost half of the Tarn. Steve Abbott and Tony Dufton got off to an early lead with Dave Butler in pursuit, followed by R.Stephenson, Jo Mayes, Louise Harding, Stan Luger and Dennis Beard.  A couple of spinnakers were deployed with limited success and with his spinnaker, Dave Butler pushed himself to the front of the fleet. Dennis Beard made up for a poor start, perhaps using some local knowledge, and got up into the top half of the fleet.

After H’Caps:-

• Dave Butler   10340  d/h Spinnaker  
• Tony Dufton   108     s/h
• Steve Abbott  10312  s/h
• Dennis Beard          10070  d/h
• R. Stephenson          9866   s/h
• Louise Harding        10335  d/h
• Jo Mayes       10343  d/h Spinnaker
• Stan Lugner   10341  s/h

Race Two, after soup and rolls in the clubhouse, started with the wind rising to a welcome 5-6mph but this soon died back to the 2-3mph of the first race. The course was altered slightly to avoid the biggest wind shadow but others still remained. Dave Butler, Steve Abbott and R.Stephenson built up an early lead and then Dave Butler (and spinnaker) opened up a good lead. However, with some good work R.Stephenson caught and passed him on the water by the end of the race - sadly though, not by enough margin to cancel the s/h handicap.

After H’Caps:-

• Dave Butler   10340  d/h Spinnaker
• R. Stephenson          9866   s/h
• Stan Lugner   10341  s/h
• Tony Dufton   108     s/h
• Steve Abbott  10312  s/h
• Dennis Beard          10070  d/h
• Jo Mayes       10343  d/h Spinnaker
• Louise Harding        10335  d/h

Race Three again had the same wind conditions with some drizzle thrown in for good measure.  At the first couple of marks most of the boats were bunched together, which is a bit of a lottery in light winds. Dave Butler hit a mark and had to do a 360 but managed to get himself (and his spinnaker) back into the lead of a race which turned out to be a very close finish for some. Dennis Beard, Stan Lugner, Steve Abbott and Tony Dufton all crossed the line within a couple of seconds of each other.

After H’Caps

• Dave Butler   10340  d/h Spinnaker
• Dennis Beard 10070  d/h
• Stan Lugner   10341  s/h
• Steve Abbott  10312  s/h
• Tony Dufton   108     s/h
• Jo Mayes       10343  d/h Spinnaker
• R. Stephenson          9866   s/h
• Louise Harding        10335  d/h

Overall Winner was Dave Butler with Tony Dufton in second place and Dennis Beard in third.

Thank you to all involved in organising the day and to the Catering Committee for their delicious lunch. Special thanks to our visitors who had come from  Huddersfield Sailing Club, Welton Sailing Club near Hull, Bewl Sailing Association, East Sussex and an independent traveller from Cambridge.

Thanks also to Andrew Fieldhouse who compiled this report on behalf of the Heron Fleet.

23^rd September 2017