WICKSTEED PARK MODEL BOAT CLUB
The inaugural open 'Footy' meeting at Wicksteed Park in Kettering was hosted by the Wicksteed Park Model Boat Club on a rather windy but sunny Saturday 15th August.
'Footy' event at Wicksteed Park
15th August 2009
The club saw a good turn-out of 11 skippers for this inaugural meeting, possibly encouraged by the fact that entry to the park and competition had been carefully organised by the club to be completely free of charge. The course consisted of traffic cones headed by marker numbers. If hit, the boat generally came to a stop and had to be sailed off, but no points were deducted.
So what of the actual racing? The morning started with a moderate wind which steadily increased to a near gale by the afternoon. Early races in the morning saw Nick Burden (216) gaining high positions in several heats, but as the wind speed increased he found his boat being constantly swamped on the downwind run and finally he had to retire. The general attrition rate was high, and roughly half the entrants had withdrawn by late morning because of 'wet' electrics.
Local hero Peter Jackson (230) failed to shine in the early races, but as the day wore on familiarity with his home lake started to bear fruit and he was soon moving up the scoreboard. He finally finished in a creditable 3rd place in the competition.Gary Sanderson (13) was something of a dark horse, because although not consistently winning races, he was always up there with the leaders, so at the end of the day earned himself 2nd place in the competition.
Star of the day however was undoubtedly Trevor Thomas (147), and it seemed that no matter whether the wind was moderate or strong, he had the situation completely under control. He was generally first across the start line at the beginning of the race and invariably first across the finish line. I am sure that all the skippers agreed that he deserved to take first place in the event.
Thanks must be extended to Paul Strong for consistent and accurate scoring throughout the day and also to OOD Peter Jackson for keeping the meeting moving ahead steadily and thereby completing all 16 races by 4.00 pm.
Rapt attention to detail by the skippers at Wicksteed Park
Winner Trevor Thomas (centre), 2nd Gary Sanderson(left),
3rd Peter Jackson (right).
Participants at the inaugural 'Footy' meeting at Wicksteed Park.