New 2011 Events Calendar
September proved to be every bit as exciting as I predicted it would be in my last article. We had fantastic racing, very close and well fought, right to the end. And what a turnout of boats - 37 at Hollingworth for the final of the Nationwide Series.
Thank you to everyone who took part, made the events possible, and supported their family and friends. Events like we saw in September 2010 take a massive commitment from a lot of people. Even though we have many meetings on the calendar for October, most of the major events of the season have concluded. I would like to record the thanks of the UK Mirror Class Association to everyone who has contributed to Mirror sailing during the year, and is continuing to do so.
15 Mirrors competed in the championships at Ullswater on a bright sunny weekend which showed off this spectacular venue at its best. First and second places overall went to National Squad sailors Matt and Ben Lulham Robinson and Emma and Rachel Grayson. For the chasing pack this was the final indicator for North Zone squad places and competition was intense. The National Squad sailors had to work hard to stay ahead of Will Hide and Emma Clayton who pushed them all weekend. A great performance considering Will has only just started helming after several years crewing in Mirrors. Next came the 3 entries from South Staffs Sailing Club with Evie Howarth and Isablel Tate in their new boat taking 4th place overall to lead home this group from Chloe Macaulay and Issie Leroux (5th) and Scott and Adam Bromley(6th). Several other new sailors to the class gave performances which showed great potential for the future. From the home club 9 year old April Whiteley crewed by Philip Brookes was a case in point finishing 9th overall with a fifth in the last race in only their sceond outing in a Mirror! It was also good to see 2 boats from a newly emerging fleet at West Lancs Yacht Club travelling to the event. They developed new skills form taking part in their first serious competition.
Well done verybody who sailed and worked hard all weekend to master the windshifts of Ullswater!
Other places were
7th Elle Rice Birchall and Dom Daniel
8th Tom Dean and George Richards
10th Ellie Hide and Sophie Benn
11th Sarah Clayton and Ellie Benn
12th Daniel and Dara Madden
13th Annabelle and William Orme
14th Bendict and Gagriel Hill
15th Stuart Moss and Lavelle Jaydon.
37 boats arrived at Hollingsworth Lake SC on Saturday 18th September for the Mirror Northerns, penultimate NE traveller’s event and the final nationwide series event, they were greeted with no wind, but by 12 o’clock the wind has filled in to make a good days racing. Race 1 was won by Will Hide & Emma Clayton closely followed by Sarah Richards in second and Roy Platford in third, both sailing single handed. After lunch race 2 was sailed with lots of place changing and finally Richards finishing in first place with Emma & Rachel Grayson in second and Rory MacKenzie & Oilver Winder taking third. After a general recall race 3 got underway Matt & Ben Lulham-Robinson took an early lead and held it to finishing almost a leg ahead of the fleet follow by Richards in second and David Huges (single handed) in third. Some pics at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lulhamrobinson/NorthernsHollingworth?authkey=Gv1sRgCNyU9IXv8M__iAE#
37 Mirrors arrived at Hollingworth yesterday for the last event of the Mirror Nationwide Trophy. They travelled from all points of the country with boats from Cornwall, Poole and Brightlingsea attending
They were met by shifty conditions and very close racing ensued.
Roy Platford, Sarah Richards, the Grayson Girls, Lulham-Robinson boys and Peter Sedgewick were all given a fright when Will Hide who has just arrived from crewing Ollie White sailed to victory in the first race
Full Nationwide results (so far) attached below, please click 'Read More'.
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