Wild times

A report from the Supernova Open meeting at Ripon SC

The Supernova Open Meeting held at Ripon Sailing Club on 23 May 2004 attracted 12 entrants. With no wind, Officer of the Day Peter Chignell posted a postponement flag and waited for the weather to fill in, eventually a light breeze arrived and the 1st race began.

With little wind Andy Flitcroft (Bolton SC), Tony Wild (Bolton SC) and Tim Coleman (Ripon SC) were the leaders at the windward mark with Tony Critchley (Bolton SC) moving into contention along with Grant Brown (Severn SC). By lap 2, Wild had moved ahead of Flitcroft with Coleman, Critchley and Brown challenging from behind. By now the rest of the fleet had fallen well back despite gusts which had helped them move closer from time to time. At the finish, Tony Wild crossed the line first with Flitcroft second, Critchley third, Coleman fourth and Brown fifth.

The first afternoon race was met with similar conditions. Coleman was first to the windward mark with Flitcroft 2nd, Critchley 3rd, Wild 4th and Allen Banister (Ripon SC) 5th. At the end of lap 2, Wild had moved into 1st place with Brown finding the breeze to move into 2nd place, Critchley remaining 3rd with Flitcroft 4th and Coleman 5th. At the finish, Wild won with Critchley 2nd, Coleman 3rd, Flitcroft 4th and Brown 5th.

At last a decent force 2+ wind arrived and race 3 looked to be more interesting. First to the windward mark was the Bolton 'battler' Tony Wild with fellow Bolton sailor Critchley 2nd, Steve Hawley (Severn SC) 3rd, Flitcroft 4th and Coleman 5th. By the end of lap 2, Steve Hawley had battled past Critchley into 2nd place with Flitcroft remaining in 4th and Chris Hawley (Severn SC) (Steve's brother) 'steaming' into 5th place. Wild won, leading the race from start to finish, Flitcroft crossed the line in 2nd place with Critchley 3rd, Steve Hawley 4th and Chris Hawley 5th.

Overall winner of the event was Tony Wild (Bolton SC), 2nd Andy Flitcroft (Bolton SC), 3rd Tony Critchley (Bolton SC), 4th Tim Coleman (Ripon SC) and 5th Steve Hawley (Severn SC). The winner took home a magnificent Platter designed by Dalesman Potter and Ripon SC member, Andrew Hague.