Trophies at stake on Boxing Day for Welland Yacht Club

Persistent rain and a strong breeze didn't put off five crews who attended Welland Yacht Club's Brass Monkey race on Boxing Day.

This was also the last of Frostbite series so two trophies were at stake.

Andy Prior and Tom Bell, sailing a Wayfarer, got the best start and were soon around the windward mark with Andy Agar (OK) and Alan Cox (Laser Radial) close behind.

Next came Alistair Mitchell but Gerri van Haren had struggled to get his Phantom dinghy off the bank in the strong onshore breeze and was a long way behind.

Unusually the wind direction was SSE which meant it was possible for most boats to get around the course without having to put a tack in meaning the OOD was able to set a long two-lap course.

Despite this Prior and Bell were able to complete the race in under half an hour and led from start to finish with the wind conditions suiting the Wayfarer perfectly.

Once past Agar, Cox did manage to challenge for the lead a couple of times. Although he didn't achieve this, he was only 21 seconds behind Prior and Bell on corrected time.

Next came Agar and then van Haren who had made up a lot of ground following his delayed start but not enough to challenge for places. Mitchell brought up the rear but did beat van Haren once handicaps were applied.

With Prior and Bell taking the first in this race, it gave Prior five points overall in the Frostbite series which matched Cox's score exactly.

With the first countback applied it was still a tie as both boats had two first places and a second.

This meant that the second countback was applied which gave Prior the overall victory as he had the first place in the most recent race giving him victory over Cox by the smallest margin.

Third overall was Agar from Paul Burton and Mark Holland joint fourth, Mitchell and Katie Follington joint fifth and van Haren sixth.

That concludes the 2019 season, with all eyes on 2020 where the club will be celebrating its 70th year.

Anyone wanting to find out more about sailing should contact the club via email secretary@wellandyachtclub.co.uk