2015 Met & Southern Vane A Championship Sunday September 13th.
Six superb modern Vane A 's competed in
this year's event, in a moderate 'whole-sail' East to South-East
breeze. Spinnakers were flown downwind, making for some fast sailing
and exciting re-trims as the boats angled in towards the bank at
the end of the runs. A big thank you goes to Allan Oxlade who very
kindly volunteered as race officer, and kept the lake and the crews busy
with a tight programme. An excellent arrangement whereby two pairs went up
and back and then the third pair were sent up and back ensured there was plenty
of cover for the fast moving yachts – especially downwind. There were no snails
in this fleet, and finishes were often close enough to warrant some
head-scratching. There was even one dead heat…….
Shaun Wyeth had bought his much loved, championship winning Hollom designed 'Razor' out of retirement, and just
squeaked through to win by one point. Brian Smith was his mate. Congratulations
go to them as the 2015 Met and Southern Vane A
Champions. Second were Malcolm Eales and Paul Edwards, sailing another but
rather lighter Hollom boat 'Ruby'. Third,
perhaps to their amazement, were Peter Fothergill and Mervyn Cook, sailing
their own designed super-lightweight boat 'Whippersnapper'. Fourth
were Jacque Cook and Eric Meighen, sailing the Simpson designed
'N-Lightened' for only the second time. They just pipped,
on count-back, Lewis Wyeth and Roger Cole, sailing a new Hollom 'Sea the Stars' design..
Lewis was sailing as skipper in the A class for the first time... I
think we'll be seeing more of him in the future – particularly at the front of
the fleet! And only one point behind them both was Graham Wyeth, also
sailing the new Hollom boat. It was a hot
fleet, with some very close racing, worthy of champions!
The vane A's are magnificent boats to watch, match racing at it's
best. Each of these boats represents up to a year of development,
from design and build, to development of the rig, and the result
is superbly effective racing machines. Our next vane A event is on the 4th of October, why not come along to
enjoy the spectacle?
Mervyn