BACK TO THE LINCOLNSHIRE LYC OPENING PAGE and CONTENTS   MAP OF LYTHAM ST ANNES   Report from Chris Wright - Images from Mark Lloyd   After booking the day off to have a sail on the banks at Lytham with Andy Parr the forecast of torrential rain was not encouraging. The weather forecasters seem to be more accurate when they forecast bad weather than they are when they forecast good. Strange that. Friday morning was fine first thing so I thought that perhaps they'd got it wrong but no, by mid morning, just as I was changing wheels and axles on the yacht prior to hitching up and heading for the motorway, down came the rain. It carried on raining for the whole of the 100 mile journey across the country. Then, as I was approaching the west coast, the cloud started to break up and it stopped raining. A delightful afternoon was spent exploring the offshore banks in the mini yachts. Saturday dawned wet though, and frequent showers as we rigged up followed those that had fallen overnight. As a result though the banks were in prime condition with no debris or cavernous holes, the inner pan was standing in water. Finally, after a couple of hours delay to let at least some of the water drain off the banks the racing got underway in a 20mph wind that was straight off the sea. This made for very fast sailing along the undulating banks. With frequent shallow streams to cross, some soft areas to steer around (if you could see them through the water and sand that collected on your goggles), and a few hundred yards of shallow water each lap that could not be avoided just after the finishing line, there was plenty to keep you alert. Class 5 started the day's racing and Dave Green set off with the unenviable task of acting as pathfinder. This he managed for most of the first lap but then his path found a soft bank top allowing me time to swerve around it onto firmer ground. For the rest of the race he was obliged to follow me. I was grateful for the fact that I'd rigged my flat, high wind sail after a practice run had demonstrated that with the fuller one I wasn't going to be spending much time on three wheels. As it was, in common with most others, I spent some time on no wheels as we all found various parts of the beach that threw the yacht into the air as you sailed over them. One particularly fast take off was followed by a seat crunching landing and for the rest of the weekend the seat had to have a rope sling under it to lash it to the axles. Another winter repair job. The race ended with Dave Green a hundred yards back, with Roger Leah a similar distance behind him. In the second race I got away ahead of Dave (just) and managed to hold him off on the reach to the first mark, after which he tucked in behind me and stayed there. Occasionally he would gain a bit then I would gain it back, depending on who found the firmest route. Mark Sidey followed in third place. Mike Hampton had his second puncture of the day and Mark Lloyd, sailing a yacht borrowed off Mike, watched most of the race from the sidelines after a breakdown. Robert Green, sailing a particularly unconventional course hundreds of yards inshore of where he should have been (and where everybody else was) managed to set an altitude record by sailing to the top of a sand dune. Sadly none of us witnessed it. Race 3 was led from the outset and won by Dave Green in slightly less wind than earlier. Though I kept in touch with him there was no hope of catching him but thankfully there seemed no hope of third place Mark Sidey catching me. The final race was started in overcast and gloomy conditions and a falling wing wind. Though the sailing was still fast and exciting the sting had gone out of the wind strength. This was perhaps as well as a rain shower reduced the already poor visibility to very little. Dave Green again led and was quite welcome to the task of finding his way around the course. Rainex and antifog on the goggles had been enough to last for the duration of earlier races but was not up to the conditions of the last race and even with somebody to follow it was still a matter of point the yacht in what you hoped was vaguely the right direction and hang on until a mark loomed out of the gloom. I had an early tussle with Mark Lloyd but passed him when he went for what he might have thought was shallow water but wasn't, but he was pleased with his third place. So overnight Dave Green and I were on equal points with two firsts and two seconds apiece. Sunday was a complete contrast. Sunny and warm and less water on the beach. After a morning of hanging around assuming that we wouldn't be able to sail, the wind gradually filled in and Class 3 got underway. With only three races for them on the Saturday Len Warren was keen to get a fourth one in for them so that they could have a discard. Then it was our turn and I benefited from a front row grid position. This meant that it was again my turn to act as pathfinder but I had to sail a conservative course and keep Dave behind me. That's what I managed to do for the rest of the race. Meanwhile Dave did what he had to do and try a different course as he wasn't going to pass me by following me. He took distance out of my lead each lap but not quite enough to catch me. One more lap, he claimed, would have sealed my fate (but I don't doubt it). So overall it was myself first, Dave second and Mark Sidey third. I didn't get a lot of chance to watch the Class 3 races but overall it was Jon Cookson first, Steve Borrill second and Alan Scantlebury third. Chris Wright MAP of FYLDE, LYTHAM ST ANNES, NW ENGLAND   [  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