Saturday 1st October saw the Bough Beech Firefly open take place at Bough Beech Reservoir, with four races run back to back in the afternoon to fit in with school timetables!
The afternoon scheduling turned out to be a bit of a blessing as drizzle and becalmed waters gave way to sunshine and a lovely force 2-3 just in time for the first race. 24 school boats from four schools (Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Ardingly and Claires Court) were joined by the maiden voyage of 2777 under the ownership of Bevis Field who entrusted younger brother Ben to take her out for the first time since buying her the previous weekend.
Ben quickly got to grips with the ancient art of aft main sheeting and alongside Kate Fairclough showed the school kids how its done with 4 wins out of 4. The battle behind the shiny wooden boat was very keenly fought with lots of place changes on a fairly tight race course.
After four races 2nd place overall went to Dom Lewis and Alex Barone from Tonbridge school who also claimed the 1st U18 prize. The under 16 category was won by Nick Davies and Charlie Cooper from Sevenoaks School who finished 6th overall. A fantastic afternoon of racing for all was rounded off with a prize giving in the club house and the handing out of many chocolate based prizes.
Words and Photos Andy Cornah
Overall Results;
1st 2777 Ben Field & Kate Fairclough (WKSC)
2nd 31 Dom Lewis & Alex Barone (Tonbridge School) (1st U18)
3rd 14 Matt Caiger & James Rudd Jones (Sevenoaks School)
4th 13 Oliver Kidd & Helen Jones (Sevenoaks School)
5th 20 William Davies & James Weidenbaum (Claires Court)
6th 15 Nick Davies & Charlie Cooper (Sevenoaks) (1st U16)
7th 1 Josh Davies & Will Powell (Sevenoaks)
8th 21 Daniel Discombe & Jamie Mcaulay (Tonbridge)
9th 18 Elias Marchetti & Federico Roma (Sevenoaks)
10th 8 Harry Tucker & Robbie Elliot (Ardingly College)
11th 16 Holly Macaskill & Becky Caiger (Sevenoaks)
12th T5 Rory Fulton & Harry Tilley (Tonbridge)
13th 2 Will Caiger & Imogen Salmon (Sevenoaks)
14th 4 Ellie Wild & Izzy Willis (Sevenoaks)
15th 30 Michael Hall & Angus Harding (Tonbridge)
16th 19 James Mcphee & Joseph Havers (Claires Court)
17th 7 Josh Oakland & Oliver Lewis (Sevenoaks)
18th 3 Anne MArie Ratnage & Alice Parker (Sevenoaks)
19th 33 Max Beverley & Sam Rawlins (Tonbridge)
20th 5 Sean Lee & Ed Salmon (Sevenoaks)
21st 17 Alex May & Marit Vermeer (Sevenoaks)
22nd T18 Dillan Thatcher & Joseph Bird (Tonbridge)
23rd 12 Kester Rice & Tom Kynenburg (Sevenoaks)
24th 11 Annie Lemones & Sara Cinca (Sevenoaks)
25th 6 Ned Geake & Zayna Mansuri (Sevenoaks)