Borrowing boats

Teams had to borrow boats for the Staunton Harold Fireball Open due to containers still on the way from Thailand

35 Fireballs including 13 from the home club and two from Ireland lined up for the annual domestic season opener, a little later in the year than normal due to the Thailand worlds. Having boats still in the container was no excuse though, as boats, sails and crews were begged and borrowed from a variety of sources.

On the race track the fleet were greeted by a strong, damp north easterly breeze gusting over 20 knots. It was Dave Wade and Ben McGrane, still showing their good form from Thailand, who managed to get in front at the finish following a four way tustle. Regular changes in the lead took place throughout the day in tricky, gusty and shifting conditions.

In the day's second race Sam Mettam, back in a Fireball after time abroad charged round with crew Richard Anderton to take line honours, ahead of Adam Whitehouse and Mike Pratt in their new boat. The new pairing of DJ Edwards and Andy Thompson were third.

The last race of the day saw local youngsters Tom Foskett and Tim Needham take the gun from Edwards and Thompson with current European Champions Andy Smith and Jonny Mildred third. It was Whitehouse and Pratt who finished the day in the lead with a consistent two seconds and a fourth. Some competitors were not so lucky and the days damage included one mast, a spinnaker pole and several sails written off.

Saturday evening saw a four course curry feast in the clubhouse. Some competitors unwisely took on the yellow and green pickle, and lost.

Sunday brought lighter conditions. It was Kevin Hope, twice a previous winner, crewed for this event by John Rowell, who played the shifts best to lead all the way round. Local pairing Ian Kelly and Pete Elver chased hard for second with Wade and McGrane third. Wade and McGrane won race five after a three way tussle with Edwards and Thompson and Becky Priest and Tim Saunders.

The event was still wide open at lunch. Whitehouse and Pratt did their best to recover from a poor morning by winning the last race, but it was Wade and McGrane who took the event posting a third. Smith and Mildreds second place gave them second overall with Whitehouse and Pratt third.

Results:

Pos	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Tot	Net
1st	Dave Wade	Ben McGraine	1	7	-8	3	1	3	23	15
2nd	Andy Smith	Jonny Mildred	3	-13	3	6	3	2	30	17
3rd	Adam Whitehouse	Pratt	2	2	4	-20	12	1	41	21
4th	Kevin Hope	John Rowell	6	8	6	1	-10	6	37	27
5th	Sam Mettam	Richard Anderton	5	1	-10	8	7	7	38	28
6th	Grahame Newton	Mark Stevens	-11	4	5	10	5	5	40	29
7th	DJ Edwards	Andy Thompson	19	3	2	4	4	(36.0 DNS)	68	32
8th	Becky Priest	Tim Saunders	10	6	11	-12	2	10	51	39
9th	Noel Butler	Seamus Moore	9	9	(33.0 DNF)	5	9	14	79	46
10th	Peter Gray	Sinmon Forbes	13	5	12	-16	14	4	64	48
11th	Mark Maskell	Jon Watkins	-17	14	15	7	8	9	70	53
12th	Tom Foskett	Tim Needham	4	(28.0 DNF)	1	19	21	16	89	61
13th	Phil Popple	Gavin Tillson	-25	12	7	15	19	8	86	61
14th	Ian Kelly	Pete Elver	7	10	(33.0 DNF)	2	23	21	96	63
15th	Peter Wood	James Wood	14	16	(33.0 DNF)	11	6	17	97	64
16th	Daren Fasey	Colin Davis	15	15	-16	14	13	13	86	70
17th	Chris Walker	Oli Needham	12	11	19	22	-27	11	102	75
18th	Derian Scott	Andy Scott	-21	17	18	13	15	15	99	78
19th	Richard Mason	Simon Hextall	8	28.0 OCS	9	17	18	(37.0 DNC)	117	80
20th	Ian Priest	Richard Peperdine	16	-22	13	21	17	20	109	87
21st	Ian Weston	Bumpy	20	(37.0 DNC)	17	9	37.0 DNC	12	132	95
22nd	Russ Cormack	Ali Cormack	-24	19	22	24	16	18	123	99
23rd	Simon Kelsall	Tom Williamson	18	20	20	23	20	-24	125	101
24th	Rob Burton	Rob Watson	22	21	14	25	25	-27	134	107
25th	Andy Boyle	Brian Flahive	27	18	21	27	-28	22	143	115
26th	Andy Pearce	Gary Henwood Fox	(37.0 DNC)	37.0 DNC	37.0 DNC	18	11	19	159	122
27th	Jonathan Cooper	Cheryl Jessop	26	(37.0 DNC)	36.0 DNS	28	24	26	177	140
28th	Jeremy Hurst	A Hurst	29	25	33.0 DNF	(37.0 DNC)	29	25	178	141
29th	Pete Slack	Hania Ograzinski	(37.0 DNC)	37.0 DNC	37.0 DNC	26	22	23	182	145
30th	Duncan Roberts	Kayleigh Roberts	(38.0 DSQ)	23	36.0 DNS	30	30	29	186	148
31st	Bob Tuckwood	Debbie Tuckwood	(37.0 DNC)	37.0 DNC	37.0 DNC	29	26	28	194	157
32nd	Joe Mathews	Kate Pell	(37.0 DNC)	24	36.0 DNS	37.0 DNC	32.0 DNF	37.0 DNC	203	166
33rd	Andrew Wilde	Heidi Mellors	23	(37.0 DNC)	36.0 DNS	37.0 DNC	37.0 DNC	37.0 DNC	207	170
34th	Steve Greenhalgh	Heidi Cokayne	28	(37.0 DNC)	33.0 DNF	37.0 DNC	37.0 DNC	37.0 DNC	209	172
35th	Terry Forbes	Nick Cawthorne	32.0 DNF	(37.0 DNC)	33.0 DNF	37.0 DNC	37.0 DNC	37.0 DNC	213	176
36th			(37.0 DNC)	37.0 DNC	37.0 DNC	37.0 DNC	37.0 DNC	37.0 DNC	222	185