The Enterprise Association UK

World Match Racing Championships at Etherow Country Park SC

• SouthportNW Areas and November Plate at Southport SC
• Etherow CPSC
• Elton SC
• Bassenthwaite
• Rudyard Lake SC
• West Lancs YC
• Chester S&CC
• Wigan SC
• Pilkington SC
• Winsford Flash SC
• Toddbrook SC

Top Helm 2010 league table

 2010 End of season report

Photos © Steve Blackburn

Etherow Country Park Sailing Club hosted the Enterprise 'World' Match Racing Championships on Saturday 27th November. The event was guaranteed a new champion as Andrew Davey the previous Champion had a sledging accident the day before the event. Landing astride a fencing post meant that he could only hike out with a John Wayne stance that wouldn’t be found in any text book. On arrival at the club the visitors were greeted with a frozen lake and the event looked in danger. However thanks to the tenacity of the members the ice was broken up and an area large enough for racing was cleared. 

The draw took place to assign the countries the competitors would be representing for the day. Six boats were loaned to the competitors which meant that a day of continuous racing could take place in a league format. Races were always competitive with the result often in doubt until the final seconds.

By mid afternoon the quarter final places were all sorted bar one, and a fleet race took place for the final spot, won by Alison Payne and Kev Law. The surprise drop out was John Berry who had Match Raced AC boats in New Zealand. He found the Etherow conditions slightly different to Auckland and was knocked out by Richard Hemmingway.

The racing soon became fiercer in the quarter final stages, and the penalty count increased because of it. The umpires Tony Woods, Sam Woods and Paul Brotherton were kept busy with a few interpretations of the rules being questioned. Those doing the arguing have already been volunteered to do the umpiring next year. Good luck Craig!

The majority of the competitors could now pack up and get warm before watching the semi final stage. The first semi final saw Ed Thomas take on Tim and Jacky Finch from Chester (and Egypt). Tim and Jacky won the start and worked on a reasonable lead before hitting a dead patch. Ed caught Tim on starboard and claimed a penalty for tacking in his water. Eventually the umpire’s decision went with Ed, which with hindsight may have been a bit harsh. The penalty was enough to give Ed the match and a place in the final. In the other semi final Steve Blackburn and Alex Dromgoole won a hard fought battle from ‘the girls’ Karen Morris and Lisa Woods.

Due to the temperature dropping below freezing and the wind dropping it was decided not to have a third place sail off and move straight in to the final. The first attempt at a start was abandoned after Steve got confused about the start line and course although the same race area had been

used for 20 matches! The abandonment only took place with the blessing of Ed who showed real sportsmanship in allowing a fresh start. His good deed was rewarded with him winning the start and moving into a large lead which was never threatened by Steve at any point. Ed crossed the line to a winning gun and a round of applause. Ed Thomas and Matt were crowned the new Enterprise 'World' Match Racing Champions.

 

Enterprise North West Area Championship and November Plate at Southport Sailing Club –   6&7^thNovember. Report by Steve Blackburn Photographs © Tony Leeson

 

As 17 entrants arrive at Southport Sailing Club the sun was shining and the wind was light and swinging from north to southeast through out both days.

 

Briefing in the sunshine on Sunday morning

After the briefing we waited for the wind for the first race. After an hours wait we set sail for race 1. Mike Birch and Oli Hilliker (WLYC) went round the windward mark first followed by Karen Morris and Lisa Woods (Etherow) and Richard & Millie Pyke (Ripon) held third, these positions stayed the same for the remainder of the race. Steve Graham and Chris Blundell (Northampton) held forth and Pete Lawson & Gareth Balfour Held 5th.

After a short rest we set sail for race 2, after a restart Mike & Oli soon found themselves in the lead and winning the race by some margin. Alan Roberts and Anna Hampson (Pilkington) sailed well to pass plenty of boats to come in 2nd. Calum & Roy MacKenzie (Ogston) also sailed well to finish third. Steve Graham came in 4th, and Pete Lawson finished 5th

We all retired for the night after a few beers at the bar and waited to see if there was going to be any wind for tomorrow.

A few more competitors arrive for the Sunday for the November Plate Open meeting which co-insides with the North West Area Championships, a total of 22 boats.

Race 1 of the November Plate and race 3. Again Mike seemed to turn on the Power and eventually passed a few sailors to win. Alan Roberts also came from behind to come in second. Steve Graham came in 3rd, Richard Pryke in 4th and Tim Vick and Rebecca Marks (Ulley) in 5th.

Richard and Milli Pryke (20876) just ahead of a gaggle of chasing boats

Race 2 of the November Plate and Race 4 of the NW Champs. The wind had increase a little from a drift. This time Steve Graham won with Pete in 2nd third, Richard Pyke came in third, Tim Harper and Ben Hill (WLYC came in 4th and Mike Birch came in 5th.

 

Racing was very close throughout the fleet. Mike Birch and Oli Hilliker (22344) leading Alison Payne and Kevin Law (21318) off the mark by West Lancs during the first race on sunday morning

For the last race for both events the wind had swung from the East to the South East and had picked up to a pleasant force 2ish. After a restart Steve Blackburn & Royston Taggart (WLYC / Pilkington) arrived at the windward mark first and went onto win the race. Mike Birch sailed the beats well and climbed to 2nd. Tim also passed boats and finished 3rd. Calum & Rory came in 4th and Pete Lawson finished 5th.

Congratulations to Mike Birch & Oli Hilliker for winning the North West Areas and Southport SC November Plate.

A special thank you to Southport SC for all their work. Another report and photos here

North West Area Championship Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts
1st	22344	Mike Birch	Oli Hilliker	WLYC	1	1	1	5	2	5
2nd	23223	Steve Graham	Chris Blundell	Northampton	4	4	3	1	6	12
3rd	22405	Pete Lawson	Gareth Balfour	Bass / Killington	5	5	9	2	5	17
4th	23121	Alan Roberts	Anna Hampson	Pilkington	7	2	2	9	7	18
5th	20876	Richard Pryke	Millie Pryke	Ripon	3	8	4	3	8	18
6th	14613	Tim Harper	Ben Hill	WLYC	6	7	7	4	3	20
7th	20673	Calum MacKenzie	Rory MacKenzie	Ogston	8	3	13	7	4	22
8th	21333	Steve Blackburn	Karen Jewkes / Roy Taggart	Pilkington / WLYC	RAF	6	6	13	1	26
9th	23165	Karen Morris	Lisa Woods	Etherow	2	10	14	10	9	31
10th	21889	Tim Vick	Rebecca Marks	Ulley	9	13	5	6	DNS	33
11th	22526	Clive Porter	Jordon Porter	WLYC	11	11	8	12	12	42
12th	23196	Sam Woods	Ben Steele	Etherow	12	9	16	8	14	43
13th	21318	Alison Payne	Kev Law	Toddbrook	13	14	11	14	10	48
14th	23050	Tim Finch	Alex Dromgoole	Chester	16	15	12	11	11	49
15th	21983	John Berry	Ashley Berry	Etherow	15	12	10	16	13	50
16th	22901	Paul Young	Phil Harrison	Midland	14	16	15	15	15	59
17th	22519	Roy Kissick	Lyn Kissick	WLYC	10	17	DNS	DNS	DNS	63

November Plate Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1st	22344	Mike Birch	Oli Hilliker	WLYC	1	5	2	3
2nd	23223	Steve Graham	Chris Blundell	Northampton	3	1	6	4
3rd	14613	Tim Harper	Ben Hill	WLYC	7	4	3	7
4th	20876	Richard Pryke	Millie Pryke	Ripon	4	3	8	7
5th	22405	Pete Lawson	Gareth Balfour	Bass / Killington	9	2	5	7
6th	21333	Steve Blackburn	Roy Taggart	Pilkington / WLYC	6	14	1	7
7th	23121	Alan Roberts	Anna Hampson	Pilkington	2	9	7	9
8th	20673	Calum MacKenzie	Rory MacKenzie	Ogston	14	7	4	11
9th	21889	Tim Vick	Rebecca Marks	Ulley	5	6	DNS	11
10th	23165	Karen Morris	Lisa Woods	Etherow	15	10	9	19
11th	22526	Clive Porter	Jordon Porter	WLYC	8	12	12	20
12th	21318	Alison Payne	Kev Law	Toddbrook	11	16	10	21
13th	23196	Sam Woods	Ben Steele	Etherow	17	8	14	22
14th	23050	Tim Finch	Alex Dromgoole	Chester	13	11	11	22
15th	21983	John Berry	Ashley Berry	Etherow	10	19	13	23
16th	SSC	Greg Thomas	B Swainson	Southport	12	13	DNS	25
17th	22901	Paul Young	Phil Harrison	Midland	16	17	15	31
18th	20789	Brain Disley	A Gray	Southport	18	15	16	31
19th	23051	Don Marsden	P Swainson	Southport	20	18	17	35
20th	19755	Richard Hemmingway	Janet Adamson	Etherow	19	20	18	37
21st	21115	Harry Hurst	Ian Hopkins	Southport	21	21	19	40
22nd	22434	M Butcher	C Butcher	WLYC	22	22	20	42
23rd	22519	Roy Kissick	Lyn Kissick	WLYC	DNS	DNS	DNS	48

 

 

Etherow Country Park Sailing Club Open 30 October 2010 by Steve Blackburn

A mild autumn day was had for 11 competitors at Etherow Country Park Sailing Club. Etherow is the smallest and most challenging Open on the North West Top helm series. This is always a great event due to hospitality from all the members.

After a small glass of sherry enjoyed at the briefing, we soon set sail for race 1. The wind was light and covering only one side of the lake. Steve Blackburn and Nick Hampson (Pilkington / WLYC) round the windward mark first, Steve soon lost his lead on the next leg, Tony Woods and Charlie Berry (Etherow) and John Berry and Erika Hayton (Etherow) overtook and finished 1st and 2nd. Karen Morris & Lisa Woods (Etherow) sailed well to come in third.

After lunch, which was lasagne, and dessert, we set sail for Race 2. Again Steve started well and held onto his lead for 2 laps, Tony again went onto pass and win the race. Steve held onto 2nd with Karen & Lisa finishing third. John Berry came in 4th.

We had a short rest and race three soon approached. This time Tony went round the windward mark and escaped into the distance, again winning the race. Karen and Lisa held onto 2nd until Steve and John caught them up. On the final lap and back onto the beat Karen & Lisa had fell to 4th but they sailed the beat well and managed to finish 2nd. Steve came in 3rd and John 4th. Phil Howarth and Rachel Rattigan (Etherow) came in 5th.

 Elton SC Open Meeting 14 August