 SAT, JULY 16 and SUN, JULY 17, 2005 Final Round of the BFSLYC 2005 Championships |
|
SATURDAY EVENING - 12.30am: Phone Report from Gareth Rowland K800: Thought I'd ring. Everything in town closed at 11pm. We were told to go round to the old Firestation 'cause it stayed open to midnight. Got there and it was closed for two weeks! So we're all getting an early night. Most of them are staying at the Wirral clubhouse, some are here at the Kings Gap Court Hotel. The hotel bar was almost empty apart from the few "grockers" [aged & smoking regulars]. There was a "society wedding" on in one of the function rooms but when I poked my head in it look like they were ready to start bar brawling. Weather today was excellent. Wall to wall sunshine, 12-14mph winds although they were up and downish. Got a sunburnt head. Beach was a different story. Soft, sh*tty beach. Top inch was terribly soft. Had had sun on it all week. To sail on it you had to have power-power-power. Wind was square on down the beach with an outer bank and some low little gullies which weren't much of a worry. There's a quite good turnout. Six over from Ireland plus a good number of Class 5s and Standarts. Eric Engelbrecht and Jan Leye are over from Belgium. They're here checking the beach out as Hoylake is the venue for the 2007 Euros. Bit unfortunate Hoylake's had a week of sunshine and dried the beach right out. It was a helluva job off the start line. Everyone in the first two races were on the same tack through soft sand and just couldn't get any speed up. I was running my 6m yellow mast with an old scrappy-looking sail. It took a few races to suss out how it liked to react. The first race I hauled it right in so it had to go, but sh*t it wasn't. Finished second to last I think. Second race I decided to let the sail out and it started to go like a rocket. It was the old case of "if in doubt, let it out!" More I eased it out the quicker I went. Finished the day over the four races with a second-to-last, a 4th in the second race, the third I'm not too sure but think I was fourth and I won the last. I'm laying third with Steve Borrill in front and Nigel Spurr second. There's about 10 Class 3s. Class 5s there's about 14. The guy who takes the photos at Anglia, can't remember his name, is beating everyone. Mark Lloyd is second and I think Chris Wright is third. In one race Mark Lloyd and one of the Irish sailors had a coming together. Both pushed off on different tacks then turned and eventually t-boned each other. Mark extricated himself and set off again and the Irishman damn near ran into him again. Some choice words exchanged. There's a good fleet of Standarts. 20 I think. Mick Mitchell's up with his. I think they're all having a hard time on this beach. In one race 90 per cent of them were out pushing or stalled. It was hard work. Robert "Don't Call Me Bob" Coburn is in attendance. He's trainee Sailing Master. Len Warren's looking at retiring so DCMB's learning the ropes. The Wirral club's doing real well. They've got a membership waiting list! Around 150-170 members. The clubhouse is a lot smarter now. Reglazed and refurbished. The Plasterers Arms isn't what it used to be. They don't have special beers anymore and the regulars there aren't very welcoming. There's a couple of new bars in the town but as I said earlier, everything closes down at 11pm. Everyone who wants to keep partying or drinking goes in to Liverpool [about 20 mins away]. There was talk of going to Birkenhead, a suburb in Liverpool where all the trendy bars are, but the Hoylake locals recommended against it. Not a good move evidently. Off to bed now. Plan on trying to find a cheap English breakfast tomorrow. Drove around on my motor scooter this morning but couldn't find a damn thing. Ended up back at the hotel. Their 6 pound breakfasts are a bit steep. Regards Gareth Rowland K800 |
| [ t o p ] |
| IMAGES FROM HOYLAKE - JUNE 2004 PHOTOS from ALAN and STEPHEN WATSON Click on image to view larger photo | ||
 Colman Billings [standing], Stephen Watson and Chris Wright warming up for Friday night. |
 The Twins... Chris Wright [left] and Andy Parr show how one should prepare for a BBQ. |
 Colman watches The Hobbit [Mark Lloyd] cook a BBQ to feed the masses on Friday night. |
 Dave Green having a well earned ale after a week of late nights constructing the new Yorker c5. |
 Class 5s get underway out on the flat, "firmish" Wirral sands. |
|
| [ t o p ] |
