Report of North East Travellers at Ripon 4 Sept 2010 By Emma Grayson

Saturday 4^th of September saw the mirror north east traveller at Ripon. The day started off sunny with hardly any wind but thankfully as the first race drew near the wind filled in slightly and was just about enough to start. The race saw a good tussle between Eddie Grayson and Matt Foster, and Matt and Ben Lulham-Robinson,

Eddie and Matt started well and were leading the first race but the wind started swirling at the top end of the lake and allowed Matt and Ben to catch up and eventually overtake.

Thankfully for the second race the wind really had filled in and it was pretty constant. Again Eddie and Matt were first to the windward mark and leading for a while, however, the wind had swung just a little bit for the second beat and the left hand side of it really paid. This changed around the order of the fleet a bit and also closed the gap between the leading boat and the rest of the fleet. The rest of the race was a good battle between a few of the boats, especially Bernard and Ellie catching a big gust and blasting past everyone, however Emma and Rachel managed to work their way up the fleet and be first over the finish line.

For the third race the wind stayed constant and the left hand side of the beat again paid. Emma and Rachel were first to the windward mark with other boats closely behind. A few of the legs were a bit of a challenge as the wind swirled a lot at the top end of the lake and opened and closed gaps between boats however Emma and Rachel managed to maintain the lead all the way round. A lot of thinking and tactics were needed in the last race because the wind did shift a lot, places were lost and places were gained.

So, the overall results of the day were:
1^st Emma and Rachel Grayson
2^nd Matt and Ben Lulham-Robinson
3^rd Judith Hart
4^th Edward Grayson and Matt Foster
5^th Bernard and Eleanor Clarke
6^th Will Hide and Emma Clayton
7^th Bob Towler
8^th David Rastrick
9^th John Hugo
10^th Norman Rolfe
11^th Tom and Rob Dean
12^th Ellie Hide and Ellie Benn
13^th Daniel and Dara Madden
14^th Gordon Baird Laura Rymer

Hope to see you all again at the next event, Derwent Reservoir, next weekend ?
Written by Emma Grayson. xx