Chris Field wins Datchet Cat Open 2013

Report from Chris about the first UK event at Datchet
1st event of 2013 On the weekend of the 16 th & 17th March the British AClass association
held the first Ranking event of 2013. It was hosted by Datchet Water Sailing Club on a reservoir next to Heathrow airport.
The fleet had 3 new boats racing along with the regular competitors including myself sailing the new VISION from CatamaranParts.nl and a new Hammer sail.

The conditions on the Saturday were around 10 knots on average but with sharp gusts around 18 knots the racing was extremely tactical. Making sure you were in the correct position on the race course was the most important factor in the racing. After Day 1 I was leading scoring 3 firsts and a second with Sam Newton on a DNA second (3 x seconds and 1 first) and Bob Fletcher in third on his Flyer.

Sundays conditions held the same pattern with a slightly lower average wind speed and was even colder. The race officer realised the sailors were still cold from the previous days racing and got our 4 races completed in quick succession, which I am sure all the competitors were grateful for!
Again I scored 3 firsts and a second giving me the overall win. Sam Newton was always close to me on the course again earning 2 second places and a first. In race 3 he had a collision which was not his fault and had to retire
however, managed to find the spare parts he needed and made it out for the final two races.

For me it was a good start to the season. All my equipment was new and I could immediately see the advantages in my new sail and the boat, as always, was more than up to the task. Once again I would like to thank the Marine travel company for continuing to support me through the 2013 season and also to MarinePool who supplied me with the Clothing to keep me race fit through the freezing conditions of the weekend.

Off to Minnis Bay now for some much needed training for the next couple of weeks aiming towards the defence of my French title at the beginning of May.
Chris Field & http://www.catamaranparts.nl/index.html

More info at the British A-Class Assoc http://www.aclasscatamaran.co.uk/news.htm

R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8
Chris Field 1 1 1 -2 1 1 2 1
Sam Newton 2 2 2 1 2 (DNS) 1 2
Bob Fletcher 3 4 -6 3 3 2 3 4
Gordon Upton 5 ( DSQ) 4 4 5 3 4 3
Struan Wallace 6 6 -7 6 4 5 5 5
Dave Lowe 5 5 3 5 6 (DNS) DNS DNS
Matt Burnett 8 7 8 7 7 4 6 (DNS)
Derek Gibb 7 3 5 (DNC) DNF DNS DNS DNS
Jamie Walker (DNS) 8 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS