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2007
Kestrel Northern Area Championship Blithfield Sailing Club welcomed the Kestrel fleet with just about perfect sailing conditions. However, it would be the crews who could read the wind shifts best that would make the most gains, as Dusty Miller with John Ellingham discovered in race one. After languishing in fourth place after the first lap, they jumped into the lead by the end of the second beat by picking up on the better shifts. Paul and James Jarvey led from the start with Mark and Richard Hartley chasing but when Miller and Ellingham hit the jackpot they could not find a way back past Miller and Ellingham and finished in that order. At the beginning of race two, Steve Worf, with local crew Tom Chadfield, found the quickest way up the beat to round the windward mark in the lead and held it for just about a whole lap but then lost out going back up the second beat. Again it was Miller/Ellingham who found the better track up the second beat and led the fleet all the way home. Mark and Richard Hartley followed them round and the Jarvey brothers lost third when hitting a mark and had to do turns. This let Dave Hearsum with Gareth Fay through and though the Jarvey’s recovered well they could not quite get past and Hearsum / Fay just held onto their advantage over the line. Race three saw Hearsum/Fay get to the windward mark first but loose out in an overlap situation to Miller/Ellingham and the Jarvey brothers at the first reaching mark. This time the Jarvey’s chased Miller/Ellingham to the line with Hearsum and Fay finishing third. Sunday morning brought more sunshine and slightly less wind. On previous visits to Blithfield Miller/Ellingham had got this close to winning the event when something would break or go wrong but this year they had no such problems, winning the fourth race convincingly. The Jarvey’s again finished second with the Hartley’s third. The fifth and final race saw Miller /Ellingham sit this one out as they had already won the event. The race went to Hearsum and Fay and the Jarvey’s had to chase them instead all the way round with a big tacking dual all the way up the last beat but Hearsum just hung on to win by less than half a boat length. Moira and John Moore had their best result of the series by finishing third, beating the Hartley’s in the process. Special thanks must go to the
Blithfield members, race officer, rescue crew and galley slaves for an
excellent event and thanks to Mark Hartley with Jan, and Lydia who worked
so hard in giving us such a wonderful meal on the Saturday night. Hartley
Laminates supplied the prizes and we thank them for their support.
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