BACK TO THE LINCOLNSHIRE LYC OPENING PAGE and CONTENTS   MARK LLOYD'S and GARETH ROWLAND'S IMAGES     Last weekend (Sat and Sunday, April 13-14) the third round of the British Federation Sand and Land Yachting Clubs' (BFSLYC) 2002 Championship was staged at Cefn Sidan Sands, Pembrey Park, in Southern Wales and attracted around 30 British and three Irish landsailors, the latter being Alan Watson, Colman Billings and David Meek. Lincolnshire LYC Class 3 pilot Gareth Rowland and Yorkshire's c5'er Chris Wright were in attendance and they filed a telephone report of the first day's racing from the local inn "Ship Aground". According to Gareth, and as local landsailor Andy Parr had predicted in a pre-regatta email last Thursday, the beach was very corrugated after a week of nor-easterly winds. However, although weather was fine for Saturday the winds were almost non-existent in the morning with a sailable breeze coming in late afternoon. Class 3 and Class 5 had two races apiece over the one-mile circuit. Sunday, drizzle came with the dawn and again in the early piece there was a lack of wind which gave many of the pilots an opportunity to do much-needed trailer maintenance! Late-morning one Class 5 and two Class 3 races were held, the first c3 being abandoned when the wind disappeared for a time. SATURDAY'S CLASS 3 REPORT via phone from Gareth Rowland: Much of the first day (Saturday) was spent awaiting the wind. After rigging up early in the morning, it was decided that the starting area would be moved further down the beach so everyone packed up camp and shifted down the beach to the new area about 1/2 mile past the beach groin and near the Air Force's range marker hut. Early on there were enough puffs of wind which enticed some out to sail but they always ended up walking back. Gareth, to ease the boredom, ended up strapping his mini-motorbike onto his Class 3 axle and putt-putt'ed a few circuits. Early in the piece there was an attempt to hold a Class 3 race but it was eventually flagged as the wind dropped. At this time the breeze was coming in over the sand dunes in "fits and starts". Gareth said the fleet got down the beach, came round the turn mark and dribbled to a stop as the wind died. Everyone had to push back. "At 3 o'clock all of a sudden it blew," he said. "and it blew 10-11mph from the sea." The Class 3 fleet headed off in the what was to be the first completed race of two for the day. Gareth, drawn at No. 2 on the Warren grid and not overly optimistic of his chances given he had "slapped" his K800 together and was running a new untried sail. "I didn't expect much, the sail was so flat and I figured it wouldn't do a thing," he said. "I kept reminding myself at the start that the Belgians and French sails don't have any shape in theirs either and they do OK. Well, I shot off and won! Couldn't believe it." Gareth said Class 5 then had a race and then it was the Class 3's turn again. This time Gareth, drawn at No. 9, said it was a drag race wiht the wind square on to the beach. He said he sailed better than expected, finishing third behind Richard Austin and Jon Cookson, the first three boats well out on the rest of the fleet. SATURDAY'S CLASS 5 REPORT via phone from Chris Wright: Chris said that Class 5 got in two races for the day but they were reaching races which, according to Chris, meant although racing was "quite quick" there was no big difference in the attending yacht's performance and there was little position changes other than on the turns. "The beach was horribly ripply. There was about 50 yards of smooth sand and then the rest of the track was rough," he said. "The wind was off the land for most of the day and came in fits and starts. At one stage the flags at one end of the beach were blowing off the land and at the other were blowing off the sea. We were in a vortex." Chris reported Mark Lloyd, who has yet to win a British Championship race, nearly pulled it off in his new French-built yacht when he lead for most of the first race. It was only in the final laps that Chris then Dave Green managed to overhaul Mark. In the second and last race of the day for the Class 5, Dave Green got a good start and held his place to the finish followed in by Flyde club members Roger Leah and Ray Thompson. Chris finished fifth behind Mark Lloyd who mananged to hold the "old master" at bay for the duration of the race. CLASS 3 RESULTS at the end of DAY ONE: Race One: Gareth Rowland, 1; Jon Cookson, 2; Steve Borrill, 3. Race Two: Richard Austin, 1; Jon Cookson, 2; Gareth Rowland, 3. CLASS 5 RESULTS at the end of DAY ONE: Race One: Chris Wright, 1; Dave Green, 2; Mark Lloyd, 3. Race Two: Dave Green, 1; Roger Leah, 2; Ray Thompson, 3 SUNDAY'S CLASS 5 REPORT from Mark Lloyd: We only managed one race on Sunday. Following the Class 3 race the wind dropped a little which led to a pinch up wind to the mark, with a downwind tack back to the next mark-start finish line. Chris "BABs" Wright (Bald As A Badger) pulled out at the start with Dave Green, Roger Leah, Mark Sidey and myself following up. I managed to reel him in and had what has to be one of my best ever races. It was a cracker with the "old wise one" trying every trick in the book. I managed to pass him downwind on the last lap and get to the bottom marker before him. However BABs took just a little wider sweep at the mark and managed to pass me up wind on the way out of the turn!!!! Roger and Dave were having a similar duel. Dave took the same route as Chris, taking the mark wide with a little more speed but Roger pipped him to the finish. CLASS 5 RESULTS at the end of DAY TWO: Chris Wright, 1; Mark Lloyd, 2; Roger Leah, 3; Dave Green, 4. CLASS 5 OVERALL: Chris Wright, 1; Dave Green, 2; Mark Lloyd, 3.   [  t o p  ]    CEFN SIDAN IMAGES - DAY ONE From Saturday, April 13, 2001 Click on photo for larger image. All "dressed up" and now where to go... with no wind the pit area looked like a landyacht" graveyard. Alan Scantlebury in "Full Reheat" K222 picking on Chris Wright's "spotted"c5 YOTT on one of the rare smooth patches of beach. "Oh please, please! Why can't I use their landyachts to make sandcastles? They're not using them..." Dave Green makes the most of the downtime in the morning to do a spot of wheel alignment. Once the wind was up, Mark "SoC" Lloyd was out playing with his new French toy. Is this a staged photo or what? Gareth taking the chequered flag in Race One. Mike Hampton in a reflective moment or does he simply believe if he keeps his finger on his nose, his glasses won't fall off! They were there!! Yes, the Irish made their presence felt. Colman Billings sneaks away with a box of tricks for some tuning. Another Irishman, this one under sail. Laytown's Alan Watson out in his Class 5. CEFN SIDAN IMAGES - DAY TWO From Sunday, April 14, 2001 Click on photo for larger image. Sunday dawned a gloomy, drizzly day and again, no wind! Enough of a breeze came up for the Class 5 to get in one race. Dave Green (K916) got a bit of a drubbing in from Mark Lloyd in Sunday's race. A close-up of Mark Lloyd's new French yacht. Gareth Rowland with his prize for winning the Class 3 section of the regatta. A pleased Chris Wright with the Class 5 prize. An exuberant Mark Lloyd who finished thrid overall is on the left. [  b a c k   t o   th e   t o p   o f   t h e   p a g e  ] BACK TO THE LINCOLNSHIRE LYC OPENING PAGE and CONTENTS