The postponed Yorkshire Dales SC Brass Monkey saw 55 entries sign up, but with a not too favourable wet and windy forecast, many were put off.
In the end, the storm passed through quicker than forecasted, giving the competitors far better conditions than expected, albeit quite shifty and gusty. There was some great racing in the stunning Yorkshire Dales.
For Race 1, PRO Ian Escritt set a course with the first mark just off the clubhouse to give the spectators plenty of chance to see some of the action. With the slower boats starting first it took just over 14 minutes for the RS800 of James Penty and Eddie Grayson (Beaver SC) to get to the front of the pack, hotly pursued by defending champions Colin and Olly Murray (Norfolk Punt - YDSC). These two boats pulled away from the rest of the fleet, until coming to the end of the penultimate lap, when the RS800 sailed through the finish line on the downwind leg, which was prohibited and therefore disqualified. This allowed the Murrays to take the lead and also win on corrected time, by some margin, once the results had been calculated.
The fleet then headed ashore to enjoy some of YDSC’s legendary hospitality and a complimentary lunch.
Race 2 saw the wind shifting right and a new longer course was set taking in more of the western side of the reservoir with more turning marks. Ollie Groves and Martin Penty (RS400 - Beaver SC), won this race on corrected time, going one better than their second in Race 1.
Overall Ollie Groves and Martin Penty (RS400 - Beaver SC) were awarded the Brass Monkey trophy, with top Phantom sailor Andy Couch 2nd, and defending champions Colin and Olly Murray (Norfolk Punt - YDSC) 3rd.
Results
The Brass Monkey also formed round 1 of the 2022 Great British Sailing Challenge, which gives a range of extracted rankings across a variety of categories from several events.
Top Class - The Finns had a good turnout at the Brass Monkey and head the Top Class Rankings, based on the best two results for each class across every race.
Youth - Archie Burton (Radial - ILCA 6, Beaver SC)
19-30 - Ollie Groves (RS400 - Beaver SC)
31-60 - Neil Ferguson (Contender - YDSC)
Masters - John Collegrave (Finn - YDSC)
Fast Asymmetric - Ollie Groves and Martin Penty (RS400 - Beaver SC)
Fast Symmetric - Neil Ferguson (Contender - YDSC)
Slow Asymmetric - Stewart and Martin Walker (RS200 - YDSC)
Slow Symmetric - Andy Couch (Phantom)
Speed Challenge
Fastest sustained speed recorded on SailRacer GPS trackers.
SailRacer GPS Tracking
Uncorrected - James Penty and Eddie Grayson (RS800 - 12.42 kts)
Corrected - Sam Waller (RS Aero 7 - 10.69 kts)
Results
https://enter.sailracer.org/eventsites/content.asp?id=48325&eventid=222604
Next event :
Cheddar Ales Chase - Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club (9-10 April 2022)
www.sailingchallenge.org
The Great British Sailing Challenge is a series of handicap racing events that take place throughout the year, and it's open to pretty much any sail-powered craft. The Challenge will involve events throughout the year. Competing sailors will earn ranking points from each event they compete in. The series is managed by RestartSailing.