Musto Skiff Open - Thorpe Bay – 27th & 28th May 2006

Saturday greeted the fleet of skiffs with light winds and overcast skies. Race 1 saw Richard Stenhouse first off the start line, closely pursued by Rick Perkins and Simon Reynolds finishing in that order.

In Race 2 the winds lightened, the heavens opened and the tide turned, making most of the fleet having to have several attempts to tack around the windward mark. Kit Stenhouse made the most of these conditions pulling out a clear lead from the start to take line honours followed by Richard Stenhouse and Rick Perkins. Race 3 saw Rick take the win from Richard Stenhouse leaving Rick Perkins the overnight leader.

Sunday brought some welcome blue skies, sunshine and a gusty 10 – 18mph wind. With the Sounthend air show in full flight, there was a spectacle of aerobatics in the sky and some on the water courtesy of the MPS fleet!

Race 4 saw Rick Perkins claim another win – sadly getting two very disappointing results in Races 5 & 6 he watched his series Ovingtonsy slip away. Once again Richard Stenhouse claimed second and Dan Dixon 3rd.

In Race 5 Richard Stenhouse battled with newcomer Gareth Davies in the increasing breeze, closely followed by Dan Dixon and Danny Clarke from Thorpe Bay leading the host club fleet.

Race 6 saw another newcomer Dan Dixon leading the fleet home to his first race win and narrowly missing second overall to Rick Perkins by one point. Richard Stenhouse emerged a clear winner on points with the rest of the fleet having some very close racing both on the water and in overall placing.

Overall Results.

1 - Richard Stenhouse
2 - Rick Perkins
3 - Dan Dixon
4 - Simon Reynolds
5 - Kit Stenhouse
6 - Gareth Davies

Photos: Chris Clarke