Kestrel Open 2008 - Netley Sailing Club

Report & Results
20th/21st September

Racing at Netley sailing club began with glorious sunshine and medium airs. Twelve boats turned out for the event, making for good competition at a great venue.

As the hooter sounded for race one there were no line shy boats. Dusty Miller and John Ellingham, John and Olive Glasspool and Liam Pike and Rachel Brown-Lee were first off the line, closely followed by John Weedon and Callum Wilson and Dave Hearsum and Gareth Fay. Jo Glasspool, confident at her home club and crewed by Paul Jarvey started well, continuing to fight off Bob Dutton and Andrew Smith and Henry and Christopher Richards. Up front, Dusty and John tacked off on a reverse P course and advanced their lead to win with a clear margin, followed by John and Olive with some clever kite work from the latter on the reach to reach gybe allowing them to gain ground on the inside lane. John and Callum fought a heavy battle with Dave and Gareth to come out just on top by the end of the race with Liam and Rachel finishing fifth followed by the Wilsonian Drummonds.

After a brief interlude for the Shearwaters and Hornets to start their next race, the Kestrel fleet’s hooter sounded to find Jo and Paul, Dave and Gareth and Dusty and John starting first, closely followed by Liam and Rachel and John and Callum. Dusty and John were first to the mark, battling John and Olive and Dave and Gareth before making a lot of headway along a close reach. Liam and Rachel rounded next, climbing over Dave and Gareth. After testing the reach, John Weedon launched his kite which Callum held bravely, climbing up to join the fight between Dave and Liam. Dusty and John and the Glasspools stormed the next leg. They went on to finish first and second with Liam and Rachel in third and John and Callum in fourth. Jo and Paul performed well, bagging a fifth.

Saturday evening’s entertainment consisted of dinner at the club followed by “THE School Disco”, which was too much for some younger members of the fleet who managed to fall asleep in the club lounge.

Race 3 started in lighter winds than the previous day. Dusty Miller and John Ellingham led to the windward mark and up the start of the second beat followed by John and Olive Glasspool, Dave Hearsum and Gareth Fay and Liam Pike and Rachel Brown-Lee. As the leading four boats attacked the second beat heading inshore to get out of the tide, all four boats were headed. By the time John Weedon and Callum Wilson rounded in fifth place, the wind had started to lift. The wind lifted rapidly 30 - 40 degrees, which resulted in the leading four boats falling down the pecking order with John and Dusty dropping out of first place and Liam and Rachel ending up three from the back. John Weedon and Callum Wilson took the lead at the windward mark with Jo Glasspool and Paul Jarvey not far behind. John and Callum held the lead until the next leeward mark when they stalled the boat in virtually no wind allowing Dusty and John to regain the lead by keeping the boat moving through the light stuff. Dusty and John held the lead until the finish. John and Callum finished second with John and Olive third. Liam and Rachel recovered 5 places on the penultimate beat by tacking out towards the shipping channel to capitalise on more breeze and finished in fourth. Dave and Gareth finished close behind in fifth.

Race 4 started after a break for lunch with the wind remaining light. John and Dusty led to the first mark followed by Liam and Rachel, Dave and Gareth and John and Olive. As the race progressed, John and Dusty pulled out in front to finish first by a comfortable margin. Dave and Gareth finished second with John and Olive in third. Liam and Rachel overtook John and Callum at the final leeward mark when John and Callum struggled to drop their spinnaker leaving Liam and Rachel room to round on the inside and cover them up the last beat.

Race 5 was sailed back to back with race 4. With four first places and winning the event with a race to spare, John and Dusty returned to shore. In between races the wind died, leaving the fleet struggling to make progress against the tide. John and Callum and Bob Dutton and Andrew Smith started in shore to get out of the tide. Liam and Rachel started at the biased starboard end of the line expecting the wind to fill in first from the main channel on the right. John and Callum and Bob and Andrew led by a comfortable margin with Liam and Rachel in third and Dave and Gareth in fifth. Liam and Rachel gained ground on the leading pair towards the end of the final run. The wind died and shifted leaving a pack of three Kestrels and a couple of Hornets struggling to work out where the wind was coming from. John and Callum rounded the leeward mark first, followed by Bob and Andrew and Liam and Rachel. John and Callum struggled to maintain boat speed in the light breeze, allowing Bob and Andrew and Liam and Rachel to pass. As the final beat turned in to a shifty close reach, Liam and Rachel pulled ahead of Bob and Andrew to take first place, with Bob and Andrew finishing a well deserved second - their best result at a Kestrel open meeting to date. John and Callum finished in third with Dave and Gareth in fourth.

John and Dusty took first place overall with 4 points, followed by John and Olive in second place with 10 points. Liam and Rachel took third place from John and Callum on count back with both boats having 12 points.

Netley once again proved to be a fantastic venue as it was for the 2005 Kestrel Nationals, benefiting from good sailing, good catering, camping on site and a friendly club with well stocked bar. It was nice to see several new faces making their Kestrel Open Meeting debuts together with a visit from some owners of an old MK1 at a local club checking out the latest boats and racing kit. Hopefully Netley will have us back for another Nationals in the near future when their new club house is complete and we will see some of the new faces again on the open circuit.

Rachel Brown-Lee and Liam Pike.