Now there are 3
Published 20:36 on 19 Apr 2026
That is three races each day from Sunday 19th April as 2 Spring Series races plus the afternoon Spring Handicap Series took place. The weather was the usual Shotwick blustery day helms have grown to love and hate in equal measure. OOD James Stark, supported by Ian McCready, had no trouble setting some fun courses with plenty of reaching for the racers - but you could see by race three that many helms were running out of steam! Some even took to the shore and watched the final handicap race over a coffee and cake! More fitness training needed. The safety boat team of Mark Roberts and Rab Butler remained vigilant throughout the day, but were not quite as busy as they were expecting.
With the usual suspects leading from the front, there were some tight midfield battles, especially in the Miracle fleet. Three experienced racers; Mark, Dave and Paul and their crews, battled it out to finish within 60 seconds of each other in race 1 - Simon and Julie well ahead. And Claire and Jon were also neck-and-neck, finishing only 6 seconds apart in race 2, with the honours going to Jon.
Simon and Julie improved from 4th in race 1 to finish 2nd in race 2. Their recent travelling racing obviously paying off.
Over the two races five classes of dinghy appeared in the podium positions, reflecting the challenging conditions , and the top four are all sitting on 6 points…
Spring Series race 1: 1. Matt Bennet (Solo), 2. Ian Duncan (Laser), 3. Phil Watson (Streaker)
Spring Series race 2: 1. Chris Draper (Topper), 2. Simon and Julie Dolman (Miracle), 3. Phil Watson (Streaker)
Spring Series overall after 2 races:
1. Chris Draper (Topper), 2. Simon and Julie Dolman (Miracle), 3. Ian Duncan (Laser) 4. Phil Watson (Streaker)
After a quick lunch and coffee a much depleted fleet set out on the first race in the Spring Handicap Series. A moment of inattention saw the Sandy Mill take a quick bath just before the start, but he soon recovered and joined the rest of the fleet. Braving the gusty weather, again, was Sylvia in her Topper. Some close duelling with the Enterprise duo of Brian and Nick must have made for some scary moments, but she completed the course with a whoop and a wave to the OODs.
Almost perfect weather conditions meant there was some fun racing in sunny conditions - Congratulations to anyone who completed all three races today.
Results will be posted as soon as they are available.
Photo of Sylvia celebrating crossing the finish line.
Lots of video/stills from all three races from OOD James-cam, and plenty of stills and some video also of the handicap race from Ian C on Facebook…
Video on our YouTube channel:
https://youtu.be/mhLxDjjBIhU?si=e_yt8EaxQFtYjj-r
Last updated 21:13 on 19 April 2026
