Last weekend saw the 2005 Lark Winter Championship, kindly sponsored by Gill, held at Northampton Sailing Club which 46 Larks attended.

The fleet was met by a cold blustery day and a race officer who kept his promise to start on time, meaning that some people missed the start of race 1.

The race was initially led by Jonathan Fish/Toby Lewis but they were quickly overhauled by Emma Harris/Becky Priest who went on to win, followed by Jonathan Lewis/Milly Parsons with Steve Cumley/ Eluned Jones in 3rd.

After lunch the fleet had races 2 and 3 back to back. Race 2 saw a clean get away with Jonathan Fish/Toby Lewis leading from start to finish closely followed by brother Christopher Fish/Beth Condie who just managed to squeeze in front of Silver fleet’s Howie Enkel/Clare Wood to take 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Race 3 again saw Fish/Lewis first around the windward mark with Fish/Condie close behind who then overhauled Fish/Lewis to be first at the leeward mark. Fish/Lewis managed to regain control on the beat but were again overtaken downwind by Fish/Condie who then led to the finish. Fish/Lewis finished in 3rd unable to stop the charge of Harris/Priest who finished in 2nd thus putting them in the overnight lead.

The ‘Laying Down’ supper and Belle Isle prizegiving on Saturday night was enjoyed by all. Sunday morning saw most of the fleet sporting hangovers, some of which prevented a few from sailing. However, the majority of the fleet headed out for race 4, a proposed ‘P’ course.

After three general recalls the race officer moved the committee boat and changed the course to a triangle/sausage. After another general recall the black flag was used and the fleet got away cleanly with Stephen Videlo crewed by dad Ian leading around the windward mark closely followed by Dougal Scott/David Marlow. Videlo/ Videlo were overhauled by Scott/Marlow by the leeward mark and they lead until the final beat where a combination of Scott/Marlow found a hole and Cumley/Jones spotted a well timed shift on the left, led to Cumley/Jones taking the gun with Scott/Marlow in 2nd. Fish/Condie just pipped Enkel/Wood to take 3rd, thus putting them in the lead at lunchtime.

The fifth and final race was to be the decider with several boats able to win the series with a good result. Kelsey Suggitt crewed by dad Bob lead the fleet chased hard by Enkel/Wood and the rest of the fleet. Fish/Condie pulled through the fleet to take the lead by the penultimate beat and retained it throughout thus securing the race and the championship. They were closely followed by Enkel/Wood who clinched 2nd in the race, 2nd overall and 1st in the Silver fleet and by Northampton’s David Hand/G Hand who took 3rd in race 5 and 2nd in the Silver fleet.

Overall Results

1st Christopher Fish/Beth Condie, Waldringfield, 7 pts

2nd Howie Enkel/ Clare Wood, 13 pts

3rd Emma Harris/ Becky Priest, Waldringfield, 15 pts

4th Jon Fish/Toby Lewis, Waldringfield, 20 pts

5th Steve Cumley/Eluned Jones, Northampton, 22pts

Gold fleet 1st Christopher Fish/Beth Condie, Waldringfield

2nd Emma Harris/ Becky Priest, Waldringfield

3rd Jonathan Fish/ Toby Lewis, Waldringfield

Silver fleet 1st Howie Enkel/ Clare Wood

2nd David Hand/ G Hand, Northampton

3rd Nick Marlow/ Joanna Marlow, Northampton

Bronze fleet 1st Nigel Scott/Gillian Young, South Cerney

2nd John Wayling/Emma Rhodes, Northampton

3rd Jamie Mayhew/ Geoff Mayhew, Waldringfield