Bala 2007
Bala SC 12th - 13th May
2007
Six
Europes arrived at Bala on Saturday morning: Brian
Finnie from Forfar and
Richard Eagleton
from Bexhill (vying for the furthest travellers) joined four
more local travellers from Leigh and Lowton SC (Gareth, Katie Hughes and
Jenny Rogers)
and Dovey SC (Kahla
Delahay).
The breeze on Saturday could be best described as
‘fresh’ and the SW direction showed what Bala is
capable of. The first race started prompt at 1pm and five
Europes contested the start (Jenny
decided that discretion was the
order of the day having only recently had laser eye
correction). Despite the OOD setting a very fair line long
enough for the 13 Blazes in the previous start, three of the five
Europes decided to start on the same bit of water, with Gareth
squeezing off the line ahead of Richard
and new recruit
Kahla.
Kahla kept Richard on his toes round the
first two
laps, allowing Gareth
to hold a comfortable lead to the end.
Richard seemed
to have secured second until a swim at the gybe mark saw
Kahla take over
and hold him off for the final lap.
The second race saw all five boats find their own bit of the start
line. Gareth,
followed by Richard
and then Kahla
rounded the windward
mark first - with no unforced errors, and a reaching course limiting
overtaking opportunities, they finished in the same order. Katie and
Brian succumbed
to the fierce conditions; Brian
was another victim of
the gybe mark, instructed to abandon his craft until the end of the
race by the safety crew. After two hard races and only three
of the fleet standing, the fleet decided that three races in
Sunday’s lighter forecast would give more of the fleet a
chance to compete.
[Photo: Bala SC]
Sunday’s forecast was accurate, lighter winds from the NE and plenty of rain. All six Europes took to the water, Jenny making a guest appearance. As the gun for the 3rd race started a starboard biased beat got very starboard biased as the wind continued to clock to the East. This lifted Gareth and Kahla straight to the mark, others who had put in the now unnecessary early tack struggled to get back on terms, Brian suffering the worst from this wind shift. Richard showed good boat speed to get back on terms with Jenny and Kahla by the end of the first lap but the 3-way tussle again let Gareth escape off the front of the fleet to take line honours. On the second lap Brian learned from the lap before and resisted the temptation to tack right. He was rewarded with a lift to overtake Kahla, eventually taking 3rd behind Richard.
With the start line and course altered for the new wind direction, a beat into the lee of the hills was in order for the 4th race. Richard and Gareth crossed close up the first beat, with Gareth rounding just ahead closely followed by the rest of the fleet. Gareth extended a good lead heading off the wind that he held to the line, taking the open meeting. The second beat allowed plenty of opportunity for place changing down the fleet, Katie being the first to spot the pressure on the left of the course – leap-frogging Kahla and Brian into third place behind Richard. Kahla got to grips with the light and flukey inland conditions and held 4th to the line ahead of Brian. With the rain now very heavy, the fleet decided the 5th race was unlikely to change the current standings and headed for a hot shower.
Overall Results
| Sail no | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | Place |
| 391 | Gareth Williams | Leigh & Lowton | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 330 | Richard Eagleton | Bexhill | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| 351 | Kahla Delahay | Dovey | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 3 |
| 367 | Brian Finnie | Forfar | 4 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 4 |
| 124 | Katie Hughes | Leigh & Lowton | 5 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 5 |
Gareth Williams GBR391