Narrative kindly written by Mo Benner –
On June 25th 2023, and for the first time in years, we at Shotley sailing club held an open meeting. This was a bit of an experiment. The open meeting was restricted to Lasers from Shotley Sailing Club and Harwich Town Sailing Club and although there were only eleven boats everybody had a good day, which made all the preparations worth the effort.
The racing was held in Dovercourt Bay, just off the breakwater, the wind was supposed to increase to somewhere between 20 & 25 knots, unfortunately this didn’t happen, and the sailors had to deal with a wind that at times was very light.
The first race got off to a slow start, but ended with Matt Hart first across the line, followed by Dave Reason in second and Dan Webb taking third place.
Race two again started in light air. This race ended with Ben Reason crossing the line first, followed by Matt Hart second and Dan Webb third.
Race three had a bit more wind, but not much, and finished with Matt Hart first, Ben Reason second and Dan Webb consistently third.
The overall results:
1st Matt Hart (Shotley)
2nd Ben Reason (Harwich)
3rd Dan Webb (Shotley)
Thanks to everyone who attended, the support boat crews, Mark Taylor for the use of his boat as a committee boat and Ian Taylor for taking the photos and Brian Hart, who despite his health problems, still came out to help run the racing.
There will hopefully be another open later in the year, probably in September, which will be open to all.
More pictures can be seen on the Dingy Gallery.
