10 boats faced the horrific travelling conditions to make the first Cheshire Police Regatta since 2010. No doubt there would have been more entries had the weather forecast been kinder. As it was, the day provided comfortable conditions though slightly damp throughout. With the wind blowing the length of the lake, The Race Officer, Keith Sowley was able to provide good courses with a challenging beat.

Race One: Boat/Buoy 8(Start), 3, IM, 6, 8, with the usual requirement to pass between the 'Inner' & 'Outer' Marks for each lap. Competitors got away with a clean start and in the light conditions, the art was, in typical Winsford weather to avoid the numerous holes in the wind...  The faster rated boats, Phantom & Merlin made the best of the light winds but were unable to get ahead enough to influence the race result with Tony Hyland (Laser) first on corrected time, with the scratch Cheshire team of Dave Burrows & Paul Welsh second in the GP14.

Race Two: Boat/Buoy 6(Start), 3, 1, 5, 8, 7. For the afternoon, the Cheshire boats of Janet Gaukroger and Frank Lafferty joined the fleet to make the full complement of 10 boats. The wind had backed only slightly and buoy 3 remained the windward mark. The wind had increased but not enough to avoid the odd patch of dead water which it was best to avoid. With the faster rated boats well ahead, competition developed between the Lasers of Hyland and Sivers with the GP14 not too far behind them. Sivers was required to do circles for an infringement against Hyland at the windward mark but caught up for a while on the downwind leg, as did the GP. Martin Smith/Karen Beston had their best result of the day with the Merlin Rocket but the clear winner on corrected time was Dave Burrows' GP14.

Race Three: Same course. Just before the start, the heavens opened to witness the only proper downpour of the day. At the start Hyland found himself running out of space by the committee boat and ended up over the start line just before the gun. With a quick restart he soon caught up and overtook the main field. Although the course was the same, the wind had increased but veered slightly to make some of the legs difficult to negotiate with spinnakers. The GP had a gear failure which gave the chance to Hyland to win the race on corrected time by 24 seconds.

After the racing, the Commodore of Winsford Flash SC, Shiela Sowley presented the prizes. Congratulations to the winner Tony Hyland, on his first visit to this regatta. The farthest travellers were from Avon & Somerset who always support this event. Winsford Flash always make us most welcome and the galley did a splendid job in providing excellent sustenance throughout the day. Well done also to the organiser, Janet Gaukroger who has managed to revive this regatta and make it the enjoyable event it always is.
 

Regatta Organiser Contact:

 Janet Gaukroger: janet.gaukroger@cheshire.pnn.police.uk