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Hyde - sponsored Sandhopper nationals
Sunday, 11 October 2009
Success on the water for Hyde's sails, and new sails for the happy winners.The Hyde Sails-sponsored Sandhopper nationals took place in champagne sailing conditions at Thorpe Bay YC. Glorious sunshine with 20mph westerly breeze was the order of the weekend, and some 29 boats entered the event, which was spread over four races with a windward/leeward course.
The first start was extremely exciting with 27 boats storming into the pin end on starboard with seconds to go and one brave soul attempting a port hand flyer! A few raised voices and a 720s later the race was underway; many battles ensued throughout the fleet with Satisfaction 158 (Crawford/Kennedy) taking the first bullet of the day followed by Sand Star 159 (Thompson/Hopper) in second and Squiffy 41 (Binnendijk/Saunders) in third.
Race two again was very close with Sandstar 159 taking the bullet, Squiffy 41 in second and new boy to the fleet Scruffy 11 (Junior Binnendijk and Paul Dell) taking third.
Sunday's first race was subject to a general recall. On the second try the fleet got away and Sandstorm 12 took the bullet and proved their status as worthy championship contenders followed very closely by Sand star 159 in second and Apollo 156 third. With a discard in hand, this was enough to assure Sandstar’ overall victory, and with big smiley faces Peter Thompson and Steve Hopper relaxed for the final race.
Race four saw some extreme wind shifts with a building swell Apollo 156 popped out a mile ahead around the windward mark and took the bullet, Sandstorm 12 was second and Pheonix 18 third. The winners chose a brand-new Hyde Genoa for their prize, and Windrush 39 was the lucky winner of the draw for a new Hyde spinnaker.
For more information on Hyde Sails see www.hydesails.com, for Hyde's Sandhopper sails speak to Charles Devenport (+44 (0)845 54 38 957) or see www.hydeshop.com
posted by Hyde Sails at
21:25
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