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Bala Race Report
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AARRRHH
! Bala Catapults be at Bala!
The pirate party lasted well into
the Saturday night with drinks around the brazier made from an old washing
machine. I remember John Terry with a parrot on his shoulder which later became
the figure head on his boat. Cliff and Jo seemed in good form after drinking too
many “Lazy Boys?” and meeting up with their old friends Ann and John Langford ?
And what about the sailing? Oh yes we had thirteen Catapults thrashing about on
the water.
Nigel, Paul, Gareth, Stuart, Justin, Neal, George, Norman, Dave, John, Cliff,
Tony and the England captain John Terry.
Even though it is his first season sailing Catapults John Terry won the first
two races until falling behind to a hull falling apart and then a mast falling
down (I blame the parrot). Jo kindly lent him a replacement hull so he could
continue to compete. (Cliff still knows nothing about this, so keep it quiet) By
then Paul and Gareth had got into their stride with a string of first and
seconds.
A funny thing happened on the way to the finish. Gareth was leading the pack but
had to cut the corner to make the line. The front of his boat made it over and
he received a winning hoot only to get stuck on the sandbank. Don the Race
Officer ran over and shouted “You have to get all of the boat over the line!”
Gareth valiantly tried to manoeuvre off the spit shouting back “Can I get off
and push?” , “No” was the reply, whilst this was happening Paul crossed the line
and then most of the fleet , Gareth saw his first place evaporating in front of
his eyes. To his great credit Don checked the rule book and realised that he was
wrong “There has been an amendment”…Good old Don, lucky Gareth, great amusement
for all.

The final placing in the serious racing
was 1. Paul 2. Gareth 3. John T.
Now on to the more important stuff. Norman was
paired with Stuart in the pair’s race and as the fleet approach the first mark
in line abreast Stuart shouted out; “You don’t have to let them force you out
Norman just shout “Water””. Norman then forced us all to luff up and at the same
time as JT positioned himself between us and Tony. Chaos then ensued and Tony
escaped unharmed to win the pairs race.
You might need to know that in the pair’s race the faster sailor has to finish
behind their partner. We thought this would encourage the better sailor to give
on the water coaching (which it does) but this year Gareth and co realised that
they could also bugga up the completion. It is a bit like American Football on
the water. I may have the facts a bit unfair (Tony sailed very well) but it was
great fun!
The next important race was the Relay. Justin was
hampered by a heavy crew (Steve Fenner) and did not stand a chance. My crew
(Stephanie) was much lighter. Most unfairly, the others did not take crew!
• Tony sailed a good first leg and handover to Stuart who
set of in the lead
• Neal did brilliant handover and set me and Steph off
second
• Gareth received the ball from JT and promptly overtook
us
• George had not chance as Justin and Steve were way
behind
The wind dropped and Steph took over the helm (her first
race) we overtook Gareth and Stuart by perfectly legal paddling but Stuart
pipped us on the line to win by a yard. Tony had won again.
The next important race was the team race. Tony and
someone else won that too.
A great weekend. Wonderful company. It would could only
have been better if Chris, Barbara and Alastair had been there. Next time Tony
please leave some prizes for the rest of us. Thanks to Stuart for all his hard
work.
Nigel
THE FUN RACE RESULTS
Pairs Race
1st Tony Costall John Terry
2nd Nigel Harrison Paul Ellis
3rd Neal Graneau Gareth Ede
4th Justin Evans George Evans
5th Norman Taverner Stuart Ede
Relay Race
1st Tony Costall Stuart Ede
2nd Neal Graneau Nigel Harrison & Steph
3rd John Terry Gareth Ede
4th Justin Evans & Steve George Evans
Team Race
1st Gareth Ede 1 Stuart Ede 3 Tony Costall 4
8 points
2nd Paul Ellis 2 John Peperell 6 John Terry DNF
18 points
3rd George Evans 5 Neal Graneau 7 Nigel Harrison 8
20 points
[Numbers after names indicate individual finishing position.]
(Back
to Bala Nationals Race Report)
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