Enterprise Open at Melton Mowbray Sailing Club

This event the fourth in the 2010 Midland Area Double Chine Series sponsored by Speed Sails was held at Melton Mowbray Sailing Club on Saturday 15th May.

The eleven boat fleet included three visitors from Staunton Harold, Emberton Park and Midland Sailing Clubs who enjoyed a sunny day with a light to moderate North Westerly wind.

The first race started from a port biased line, Nigel and Diana Pepperdine (Staunton Harold SC) led the fleet away from the port end of the line followed by Paul Young and Nancy Gudgeon (Midland SC) with the rest of the fleet battling behind. An incident between Dave Simmonds and Gill Cooper (Melton Mowbray SC) and Ian Gamble and Keith Garthwaite (Melton Mowbray SC) allowed Martin Bottomley and Chris Duce (Emberton Park SC) to overtake, however Dave and Gill later recaptured their third place, the race then finished in that order with Nigel and Diana first, Paul and Nancy second, Dave and Gill third and Martin and Chris fourth.

After a particularly superb lunch, the second race started on the same course, again with a port biased line. Nigel and Diana again had an excellent start this time on port tack and crossed the fleet to lead at the windward mark. Behind at a congested windward mark there was much excitement and plenty of place changes. Martin and Chris and also Dave and Gill emerged from this towards the front of the fleet and consistent sailing from both boats ensured they finished in second and third places behind the unstoppable Nigel and Diana. Meanwhile emerging from the windward mark melee in a lowly eight place a determined Paul and Nancy fought back to finish in fourth place. This set the scene for an exciting third race with Martin and Chris, Dave and Gill, plus Paul and Nancy all counting six points each with second, third and fourth places overall yet to be decided.

The third race started from a square line with Nigel and Diana leading the fleet away, this time from the starboard end. The first leg saw many changes of place behind the leader. The windward mark yet again saw lots of excitement, Dave and Gill rounded in second place, Martin and Chris in third ,Ian and Keith in fourth with Paul and Nancy doing a 720 turn. Dave and Gill sailed well and soon consolidated their second place leaving a major battle for third. Martin and Chris, Ian and Keith and also Paul and Nancy saw close racing for the second lap, and on the final lap the completion hotted up with Paul and Nancy and Martin and Chris exchanging places regularly. Paul and Nancy rounded the penultimate mark only just in third place with a determined Martin and Chris just behind. On the last leg Paul and Nancy kept their nerve to finish third. The excitement then mounted again as Ian and Keith pulled up to challenge Martin and Chris close to the finish line. The challenge was unsuccessful and Martin and Chris took fourth place.

This left Dave and Gill and Paul and Nancy both with five points each, with Dave and Gill's better score in the last race giving them the edge.

Overall Results:

1st 20518, Nigel Pepperdine & Diana Pepperdine (Staunton Harold SC) 2pts
2nd 22746, Dave Simmonds & Gill Cooper (Melton Mowbray SC) 5pts
3rd 22901, Paul Young & Nancy Gudgeon (Midland SC) 5pts
4th 23243, Martin Bottomley & Chris Duce (Emberton Park SC) 6pts
5th 21676, Ian Gamble & Keith Garthwaite (Melton Mowbray SC) 10pts
6th 7905, Jamie Graham & Clive Graham (Melton Mowbray SC) 12pts
7th 20307, Duncan Rennie & Angela Rennie (Melton Mowbray SC) 14pts
8th 20249, Pete Franklin & Peter Mill (Melton Mowbray SC) 15pts
9th 20018, Chris Myatt & Paul Kirby (Melton Mowbray SC) 18pts
10th 22128, J Rowlett & A Rowlett (Melton Mowbray SC) 19pts
11th 16609, N Salisbury & M Gabe (Melton Mowbray SC) 22pts