1st Weekend Series Round Up

WOW! What an UNBELIEVABLE way for ASC to kick of the 2020 season!! If this weekend is anything to go by, COVID-19 certainly has not killed the momentum ASC has been gathering over the past two seasons. In total, we had an outstanding 26 ENTRIES for the 1st Weekend Series and saw plenty of new and familiar faces having fun on the water.

We woke up on Saturday to champagne sailing conditions across the bay with sunshine and a gentle 10-12 knots of breeze. A then record-breaking 14 entries lined up for a fabulous first day of sailing.

Race 1 was won by Ian Middleton in his Laser. Nat Pritchard-Jones and Jake took a fabulous 2nd place in their RS Feva closely followed by John Edwards in his Moth. Race 2 followed in a similar fashion with Ian finishing in 1st with John in 2nd and Nat and Jake in 3rd.

Saturday also saw the first awards of the season won. The Waddington Cup, awarded to the winner of the first race of the season, was won by Ian Middleton whilst the novelty armbands, awarded to the first capsizer of the season, were heroically won by PRO Andy Teague who went for a swim over the side of Sharky whilst retrieving a buoy at the end of the day. Many congratulations to both!

The champagne sailing continued on Sunday with very similar conditions. Remarkably, Sunday saw an outstanding 21 ENTRIES on the start line, eclipsing the ASC record set just the day before! This took us to the COVID regulation maximum of 30 people and unfortunately meant we had to turn entries away.

Race 3 was won by Nick and Lucy Heginbotham in their Merlin Rocket followed by Ian Middleton in his Laser in 2nd and Charles Downes, also in his Laser in 3rd. Nick and Lucy continued their good form by winning Race 4 followed by RS Aero 5 2802 and Charles Downes in 3rd.

Ian Middleton finished 1st overall in his Laser, retaining the 1st Weekend Series followed by John Edwards who finished 2nd in his Moth. Perhaps the best result of the weekend was Imogen and Ottie Pritchard who sailed to a fantastic 3rd place in their Topper Topaz. The girls sailed consistently throughout the weekend and their efforts have been handsomely rewarded. Many congratulations to all our prize winners!

A special mention should also go to all the fabulous youth sailors that hit the water, many for the first time with ASC. We were all very impressed by the high standard of sailing we saw. Most importantly, we hope you had fun and are excited to hit the water with us again.

As a committee, it is fabulous to see the club growing and that there is a demand for low-cost dinghy racing in Abersoch. We cannot remember a time where there were so many boats out for club racing in Abersoch – this is a tremendous achievement and a real testament to the fantastic club we have built. We are sorry to those who had to miss out on racing on Sunday – we would have loved for you to join us on the water but unfortunately, COVID regulations meant our hands were tied. Please remember to book your slots for Wednesday’s race on WebCollect early to avoid disappointment.

We would also like to say a big thank you to Paul on the safety boat and Sue on the beach for helping make this weekend happen. We would also like to say an extra big thank you to PRO Andy who not only put on some fantastic racing but has run through brick walls to get everything in check for this season.

And finally, thank you for all your fantastic support this weekend and we hope to see you Wednesday for the pursuit race!

The ASC Team

(Jan, Ben, John, Joe, Andy, Georgia, Sue and Emma)