2010 Frostbite Sailing Series

Frostbite Dinghy Series 2010 Final Report:

Frostbite Sailing 1, 2
The Frostbite Dinghy Sailing Series 2010 at New Quay began on Sunday 17 January with 14 boats competing in the first event with a steady breeze and a squall that caused a few capsizes for the rusty.
The results of this event were: Race 1 - ! Jonathan & Barbara Price-Jones , GP14; 2 Nick James, Laser; 3 Crawford McLeary & Kathy Hayes, Laser 2000 Race 2 : 1 Nick James, Laser; 2 Crawford McLeary & Kathy Hayes, Laser 2000; 3 Jonathan & Barbara Price-Jones GP14.

Event 2 was held on 31 January with a record of 20 boats. A race training session by Crawford held on Saturday restored the confidence of some of the new crews and honed skills of the other participants. The conditions were challenging in the big swell driven by the northerly wind. Several boats retired before the start of the racing, those that continued reveled in the exciting conditions. All the sailors eventually made it back to the Crows Nest for hot soup.
The results of the race were: 1 Nick James, Laser; 2 Gemma Gill & Stuart Gill, 420; 3 Trystan Seal, Laser.

Event 3
Winter sailors expect a variety of conditions and the weather on Sunday 14 February did not disappoint with the sea like a millpond at 10am. The breeze did fill in enough for racing to begin at 11am so the challenge for the 23 boats ( new record entry) was mainly the tide with may having to do penalty turns after touching marks. Both scheduled races were completed in sunshine. Race results for 14th February: 1 Chris Williams, Laser; 2 Tom Powell, Phantom; 3 Luke Robertson, Topper. 2nd race: 1 Chris Williams, Laser; 2 Catherine Bellamy & Alicia Chedgy, National 12; 3 Trystan Seal, Laser.

Event 4
A stormy forecast put some sailors off from travelling to New Quay for the Frostbite Racing Series on Sunday 28 February, Event 4, however many decided to take a chance on the day and 18 boats competed. The northerly wind on Sunday, although not strong had built up a steep swell making the sailing interesting and a brief squall during the racing caused several capsizes.
Race results:: 1 Jonathan/ Barbara Price-Jones, Phantom; 2 David Morgan; 3 Ceri Knapgate / Tesni Clare, Bahia; 4 Mark Willis/ Isabelle Willis, Bahia.

Event 5
Winter sunshine with the Force 3 northerly breeze creating a deep swell made the racing interesting and exciting for the 20 boats as they surfed down the waves on the offwind legs. Those that flew asymmetrics were rewarded.
The results of races held at New Quay on Sunday 14 March were: Race 9: 1 Crawford McLeary / Cathy Hayes, Laser 2000; 2 Neil Peacock / Sue Peacock, RS 400; 3 David Morgan, Laser. Race 10: 1 David Morgan, Laser; 2 Ceri Knapgate, Tesni Clare, Bahia; 3 Crawford McLeary / Cathy Hayes, Laser 2000. The final event in the series is on Sunday 28 March.

Event 6
The New Quay Yacht Club/ Cardigan Bay Watersports Dinghy Frostbite Series ended on Sunday with the final 2 races with 20 boats on the start line in the sunshine and light southwesterly breeze. The competition was fierce, as any one of the top four crews could have won the series with a good score on the last day. After calculations of handicaps and discards, race organiser Mike Masters declared Crawford McLeary / Kathy Hayes, Laser 2000 the winning crew.

Overall results: 1 Crawford McLeary /Kathy Hayes, Laser 2000; 2 David Morgan , Laser; 3 Ceri Knapgate/ Tesni Clare, Bahia; 4 Trystan Seal, Laser; 5 .Mark Willis/Isabelle Willis, Bahia. There was a special award for Tesni and Isabelle as the youngest sailors.

Some 39 boats registered for the series and an average of 20 turned up each fortnight for a total of 10 races with several from Aberystwyth University Sailing Club and others from Teifi Boat Club, Tresaith Mariners and Bartley (Midlands) joining the NQYC members. Each event was followed by soup and cakes in the Crows Nest. Thanks were expressed to the Commitee Boat crew, Safety Boats crew and catering crew, all essential to the event’s success

2010 is the seventh Frostbite Sailing Series, to read previous reports see Frostbite 2009