| Hoylake 6th-7th April
The beach at Hoylake was in fine condition at the weekend,
being just soft and bumpy enough to give Bigfoot users an advantage.
A strong, if somewhat gusty, off shore wind kept everyone interested
and on the Friday speeds of 50mph+ were clocked. The stage was set for
a top weekend of racing.
Saturday
Chris Sands (race officer) set a fast course with a couple of fast flat
reaches, a fairly long run and an upwind section back up through the
start gate. The racing was fast and tight in both fleets, most chose
to go out with 3-5m kites. Simon Bosworth (Ariea), Alistair Press (JoJo),
Mark Kingshott (Predator), Stewart Maxwell (Libre) and Grayham Steel
(Ozone) making the front running. Notable by his absence was Andy Sands
but all became clear when he returned to the pits, flying a 7m Bora
and wearing a sheepish grin, having been unable to make the reaches
at a decent speed due to being way over powered!
The wind increased slowly all day and due to the high speeds and the
now drifting soft sand it turned in to an equipment breaking day with
plenty of snapped lines, high speed on 2 wheel moments and Garry Box,
determined to out do everyone in the accident stakes, dislocated his
little finger trying to tame a wildly spinning and well powered kite.
Racing was over by 3:00pm which left people plenty of time for some
other activities which ranged from mountain boarding, having a good
safari on the massive beach to the traditional après buggy drinking.
Sunday
Sunday dawned bright and warm but with very little
wind. It was the first day this year that I've ventured on to the beach
in shorts and while this isn't a bad thing I'd have preferred to have
a little wind instead!
The first race was run and while most of the fleet got away a few were
caught up on the start line and went no further. Half way round the
first lap the wind died totally and then filled in from completely the
opposite direction. Andy Sands made the most of the conditions and managed
to get his 12m Bora to tow him round to victory.
A quick pilots meeting was called and the question was asked if the
Club Fleet wanted to run a race straight away or wait and see if the
wind picked up. They remained quiet so the national fleet, ever generous
and wanting to share the wonderful conditions, shouted their agreement
so off went the club fleet into the very week breeze. Most made it back
but a few had to get a lift back to the pits on the Quad Bike!
A half hour postponement was called to see if the wind would build before
we could run any more races. It obliged and the national fleet went
off in a slowly rising breeze that was unfortunately still too little
to get an 8.5m working well. In the club fleet a battle had begun between
Chris Hill (ozone) and Bill Williamson (Airea) both the UK importers
of their respective kites, Chris had the speed but Bill had more experience
and won through in the end.
The final race was run with the occasional 18-20mph gusts making things
interesting with most pilots still on 8-10m kites. The surface of the
beach was now quite cut up and little wind blown sand banks provided
the opportunity to get the entire buggy off the floor on the runs. Some
tight racing was seen all the way through the fleet and the speeds were
back up to reasonable figures, a nice way to finish the weekend.
Thanks to the Guys N Gals for running the races
and the Wirral Sand Yacht Club members for helping organise the event.
Let's hope the sun shines for us at the next event in Pembrey and there's
a little more wind than on Sunday morning!
Steve Burgoine
K357
www.flyozone.com
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