5-7 knots at Costa del West Kirby for the Firefly Open

As the tide moved up the river, the Firefly fleet basked in the sun ashore at West Kirby, waiting for the seabreeze to fill in.  Race Officer Paul Jenkins kept the young fleet  (more than half the sailors were under 16) ashore and timed our release down the river to the start line to perfection. Starting just before high tide, we got two great races in with place changes throughout. Chris Kameen and Olivia Nixon winning both races pipping Marian Armstrong and David Bromilow in the first  and Any McKee and Oliver McKee in the second. Place changes were regular as the tide created great bunching on the downwind legs.

The fleet came ashore for a leisurely lunch and liquid refreshments before heading out on to the marine Lake for two more back to back races. With a competitive fleet of 12 boats the short startline off the lake wall made for a tricky first beat in both races, but there were enough little shifts to allow Chris and Olivia to edge their way to the front by the first mark in each race which they held on to to seal the overall victory. The fight for all the other places was very tight with the McKees, Marian, Jon Hayley and James Bromilow and James Colquitt and Hollie Marston changing places regularly. Thrown into the mix was the emergence of Mike Hartley in a Firefly – an outing he thoroughly enjoyed despite being a bit bigger than the last time he sailed one! It was also great to see friends from Budworth and Platinum Pam which was won in the NFA raffle last year by Nick Whelan. It was Nick’s first sail on the sea in a Firefly for a good few years – I think he said mid 80’s!. It is the Budworth  open meeting next weekend so let’s hope they have as good weather and entries.

The event was capped off with a barbeque to finish .. a great weekend was had by all.

Final results: