Hartland wins Lightning Scottish Championships

The winner reports...

A forecast of light winds and plenty of sunshine greeted the competitors of the 2003 Scottish Championships held at Coniston Sailing Club as part of the Open Dinghy Regatta. With only 19 competitors making up the open fleet, including 5 lightning, the race officer decided to run the event with a single fleet start.

After a short briefing, the race officer got the 1st race underway (before some of the competitors had made it to the starting area) with patchy wind proving to be decisive as to who made the (best) start. Of the lightning fleet, only Mike Lockyer made the start on time, with Mal Hartland starting approximately 30-40 seconds later.

Confusion regarding the start meant that Hartland was quick to pass Lockyer who was then caught by Ian Ranson as Hartland pulled away. By the end of the first lap, Hartland had a two leg advantage with Lockyer keeping ahead of Ranson and Don Appleton. Paul Cavanagh set himself (or was set by the other competitors) the target of completing at least one of the races in the weekend – having tried to sink his boat at the event in the previous year.

At the finish it was Hartland with a comfortable lead, with Lockyer winning the battle for second from Ranson, who was followed by Appleton; Cavanagh failing in the first race to meet the challenge of finishing.

After a short break and some discussions with the race officer about starting the race with more than a third of the fleet still struggling to get away from the shore, the racing area was changed to start the second race from the sailing club line.

Learning from his error in the first race, Ranson made the best of the start and had a close battle with Hartland up the first beat. Hartland passed Ranson at the gybe mark and extended his lead over the remainder of the race to end the first day with two firsts in the lightning fleet (and two thirds overall), from Ranson and Lockyer, who both ended the day with a 2nd and 3rd each.

The combination of sun and light winds ensured that the bar takings improved during the evening with the promise of dehydration and aching heads forecast for the following morning. The first race on the Sunday proved to be telling with the alcohol consumption ensuring that both Hartland and Lockyer saw away the rest of the fleet to lead the entire fleet in the light and fickle winds.

Having led Lockyer by over a leg, Hartland was caught in the dying breeze at the clubhouse finish, but held on to take the win by a mere 2 seconds from a rampant Lockyer. Further back, Ranson and Appleton were engaging in their own battle, finally falling to Ranson. With only 3 races to count in the Open Regatta, Hartland led with a 1st and 2 3rds, with Lockyer’s performance in the 3rd race enough to shoot him up the leader board.

The 4th race saw Hartland lead at the start, only to be overhauled by Ranson as Hartland got held up in the dirty air from the lasers and GP’s. Ranson stayed towards the middle of the lake looking to breeze, whilst Hartland headed towards the right hand shore to take advantage of the beneficial shift towards the end of the first beat. At the first mark, Ranson led Hartland by the smallest of margins with Hartland pressurising on the downwind leg to keep a clean sheet of 1sts.

At the finish, it was again Hartland, followed by Ranson, then Lockyer, Appleton now falling further behind.

With the lightning event now won, the battle was on for 2nd, with Hartland looking to overhaul the GP14 for 2nd place in the overall standings. The final points race started in fresher breeze, with Appleton now choosing to sit out this race. Ranson made sure of the start with Hartland battling to fend of the lone streaker in the fleet. More breeze in the middle of the lake saw Hartland, follow Ranson and the streaker down the 1st reach. As the streaker went high on the reach to protect his wind, Hartland stayed closer to the lay line to gybe inside and pass Ranson on the 2nd reach. With Hartland ensuring that the clean sheet was kept intact, Ranson did just enough to keep Lockyer behind him to take 2nd in the lightnings.

However, due to his performance in the 1st race of the day, Lockyer pipped Ranson for 6th place overall in the open regatta to qualify for the prize winners race.

This final race for the Coniston open trophy was won by the 59er from Morecambe and Heysham, with Hartland holding off the rest of the conventional fleet to take second. With an increase in wind in the prize winners race, the only opportunity for a plane saw Hartland pass the GP on the downwind leg, although the GP had already secured 2nd overall in the points series.

With great sponsorship from local businesses, the prizes were to include B&B accommodation within the village and meals at a local restaurant. The event again proving to be a huge success as a fun family event alongside good competition on the water.

Final Results
1st Mal Hartland Bolton SC
2nd Ian Ranson Bolton SC
3rd Mike Lockyer Bolton SC
4th Don Appleton Wigan SC
5th Paul Cavanagh N/A