With a local IOM event attracting one or two of the regulars, 12 skippers turned up for the final round of the series, including John Tushingham. 11 sailed DFs but John Hinde made a change and sailed his JIF 65 which was a good choice in the conditions.

The NNW breeze was quite gentle and A rigs were no problem from the off, but the wind was shifty and reading the shifts was a real test.

JT won the first race, followed by John Bush from Doncaster and Dave Darwell from the home club third after a close race. In the second, Dave D made his intentions clear and took the win with John Hinde sailing an excellent race for second and Tush in third.

John Tush took the third race and this time it was Mick Tonkinson hard on his heels. John Hinde then took race 5, JT race 6 and John Hinde again getting the bullet in race 7. While this was going on, Dave Darwell and Chris More were never far away, Mick T took 3^rd in race 5 and Lisa More who has been ever present in the series had an excellent 4^th in race 7 beating husband Chris to the line in a very close finish.

John Tush took race 8 chased home by John Hinde and that was time for lunch. As always Joanne and her team at the Lakeside Cafe did us proud.

The wind was forecast to drop a little and it certainly did. After lunch racing was slow and the course shortened but after only 4 races in the afternoon, the wind was so light that there was a danger of the event turning into a ‘Drift Fest’ so Paul Rudkin, OD for the day and suffering from ‘Double Man Flu’, started the calculation process.

In the afternoon, John Tushingham took 3 wins, Dave Darwell had a third, two seconds and a win, Chris More had a second place in race 9 and Jo Sharpe woke up at last and took a third and a second, beating JT to the line by less than a boat length in the final race, just a few lengths behind DD.

In the five race series, the Balne Moor MBC Yachting Section’s first foray into Open races, we had a total of 70 entries, nobody fell in the pond, although Paul Rudkin had an unassailable lead in this category after the fourth event, defying gravity, teetering on the very brink for what seemed like an age, and everyone seems to have enjoyed themselves as well as getting in some good racing to start the year.

On the day, the results were:

John Tushingham (Keighley)                 14 points

Dave Darwell                                       22 points

Chris More                                          43 points

John Hinde                                         47 points

Jo Sharpe                                           51 points

Mick Tonkinson                                   55 points

The final Series results (best 4 scores) were:

Chris More                                          12 points

Dave Darwell                                                13 points

Jo Sharpe                                           15 points

John Tushingham                                19 points

John Bush                                           24 points

Mick Tonkinson                                   28 points

John Hinde                                         28 points

What next? The BMMBC DragonForce Open on 17^th April and the arrival of the first five DragonFlites into the club later this week.

Thanks to everyone who’s supported the series and we look forward to seeing you back at Askern Lake very soon.