Daffodil Regatta Report, April 22 & 23
Published 11:20 on 25 Apr 2023
Ullswater Yacht Club's annual Daffodil Regatta on April 22 & 23 attracted a bumper entry of 54 boats, racing on a weekend which was full of challenging conditions.
The classes ranged from fast asymmetrics and keelboats to the club's keen juniors in their Teras and Toppers. The club was pleased to welcome a new fleet to the Regatta, the OK class, for its Northern Championships. The Musto Skiffs and VX Ones also had their own class starts.
After a bright, breezy day on Friday, April 21, perfect sailing weather, Saturday morning brought the first of the challenges torrential rain followed by an afternoon of frustrating calm. The boats were split into two starts, the Musto Skiffs, VX Ones and ACH1 on one course and the OKs, ACH2 and Juniors on the second. The rain stopped and despite the calm conditions, race officers Jon Abbatt and Christian Barnes were determined to get their fleets away and they did, the boats slowly drifting around windward/leeward courses at the Pooley Bridge end of the lake.
An excellent evening meal in the clubhouse and the busy bar helped to raise the spirits but the forecast for Sunday was not good.
The racing was delayed waiting for the predicted Northerly wind to kick in, and when it did it was shifty and patchy with the occasional unpredictable gust. Yet both race officers managed to get three short races in for all the fleets.
The Musto Skiffs, always keen supporters of the Daffodil Regatta, had ten entries, and there were three different race winners. Overall winner, Jamie Hilton of Wormit/ Dalgety Bay SC, did not start well, coming 2nd on Saturday and 7th in Race 2 on Sunday, but he cracked it in the last two races with a 1st and a 2nd, winning by just one point. Danny Boatman of Sunderland YC was second, despite winning two races.
The VXOnes also had three different race winners. Local sailors, Lester Noble and Mark Simpson, VXOne winners, started the event with two 3rd places, but wins in race 3 and 4 put them through to first. In second place, one point behind, were race one winners David and Edmund Clarke of UYC.
Frequent visiting racers and former Lord Birkett Memorial Trophy winners in an RS400, Chris Pickles and Matt Sharman of Bassenthwaite SC swept the board in the ACH1 fleet by winning all four races. Mark Powell and Elspeth Keating of Helensburgh SC in an RS400 were second.
On the other course, the OKs, with seven boats, had close racing all weekend, many place changes and three different race winners. Roger Tushingham of WRSC won race one, Bernard Clarke of Ripon SC race two, then Tony Woods of Glossop SC made it two firsts to round off Sunday and win the event.
The ACH2 was the biggest fleet with 15 boats, from singlehanders to Tempests and a Hunter Europa. Anthony Dawson of UYC in an ILCA7, despite not racing on Saturday, clocked up three wins on Sunday to take the class prize. Graham Priestley, also of UYC in an ILCA7 was second.
The nine juniors in their Teras and Toppers did well to stick it out over four difficult races. Competition was tight and there were four different race winners Olivia Dembinska of UYC, Matthew Boatman of Sunderland YC, Laia Priestley of UYC and Reuben Dory of UYC. With two seconds, Olivia was the overall winner and Laia was in second place.
A huge thank you to all the volunteers who gave up their time to run the racing and chalk up another successful Daffodil Regatta for UYC, despite the challenging conditions. The club is now looking forward its biggest event of the year, the Lord Birkett Memorial Trophy on July 1 & 2, entries are now open: https://www.ullswaterycbirkett.org/
And a big thanks to photographer Tim Olin for covering the event and taking another set of brilliant pictures:
https://olinphoto.co.uk/index.php/2023/04/24/ulswater-yacht-club-daffodil-regatta-2023/
Daffodil Regatta winners.
Full results are on the UYC website under 'Race Results'
Musto Skiff. 1. Jamie Hilton, Wormit/Dalgety Bay SC, 5
2. Danny Boatman, Sunderland YC, 6
3. Dylan Noble, UYC, 9
VXOne. 1. Lester Noble & Mark Simpson, UYC, 5~
2. David & Edmund Clarke, UYC, 6
3.Tony Lewis & Nick Kincaid, UYC, 8
ACH1. 1. Chris Pickles & Matt Sharman, RS400, Bassenthwaite SC, 4
2. Mark Powell & Elspeth Keating, RS400, Helensburgh SC, 6
3. Charlie Chandler & Neil Robinson, 505, Tewkesbury SC, 8
OK 1. Tony Woods, Glossop SC, 4
2. Roger Tushingham, WRSA, 5
3. Bernard Clarke, Ripon SC, 8
ACH2 1. Anthony Dawson, ILCA7, UYC, 3
2. Graham Priestley, ILCA7, UYC, 7
3. Martin Penty, Aero 7, Beaver SC, 10
Juniors 1. Olivia Dembinska, RS Tera Pro, UYC, 5
2. Laia Priestley, RS Tera Sport, UYC, 7
3. Matthew Boatman, RS Tera Sport, Sunderland YC, 8
- Sue Giles
Last updated 19:16 on 15 April 2024