Yorkshire Youth Travellers at Welton Sailing Club

22 April 2006
By Adrienne Benson 06:21 26 April 2006

It’s that time of year again when parents drag themselves from their cosy beds every Saturday morning to drive their offspring round the sailing waters of Yorkshire. The first event of the series was held at Welton SC in almost perfect conditions of sun and breeze despite the fact that someone had forgotten to turn the thermostat up. Clearly the threat of using a black flag was enough to keep the eager fleet of 18 boats in check and every start was clean.

In Race 1, Thomas Gillard (Streaker) shot away from the start-line and seemed to be taking a huge lead when he found himself unable to tack for the mark and being held on starboard by two RS200’s. James Wright, sailing a Streaker for the first time, was better positioned and tacked early to round the first mark with a satisfying lead which was slowly eaten away by Gillard, Natasha Lister and Stephen Smith (RS200) over the water. On handicap Lilly Carlisle and Becky Wallbank (Mirror) steadily improved as the race progressed.

For Gillard, Races 2 and 3 followed a similar pattern giving him the day while Lister and Carlisle continued to fight it out with Lister managing to take second overall by only 15 seconds on corrected time in Race 3. Wright put in a consistent series but was pipped for fourth by seasoned Streaker-sailor Jessica Foster.

With a significant number of newcomers and quite a few of the seasoned travellers in different boats this year, the series looks set to be interesting and challenging even if the top few placings seem to be totally predictable. Only time will tell.

Overall Results:

1st Thomas Gillard, Streaker (Rotherham)
2nd Natasha Lister and Stephen Smith, RS200 (Craven)
3rd Lilly Carlisle and Becky Wallbank, Mirror (Ripon)
4th Jessica Foster, Streaker (Rotherham)
5th James Wright, Streaker (Rotherham)
6th Adam Lees, Laser (Huddersfield)

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