WASZP GP Series 2022 Round 3 at Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club
by WASZP Class 23 May 2022 05:22 PDT
21-22 May 2022
WASZP GP at Derwent Reservoir © WASZP Class
On the weekend the WASZP class headed to Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club for its third GP event of the season. A mix of English and Scottish boats made the trip and camped up in vans and tents in the car park to guarantee nobody would miss out on the social!
The forecast for the weekend looked great and it didn’t disappoint. 12-20 knots of breeze on both days made for some spectacular racing!
Four races were staged on the first day. With the water level slightly lower than usual, the reservoir felt narrow for the foiling boats, so plenty of manoeuvres were required to work up and down the course in both directions. This was a real test for the sailors, who didn’t have much chance to settle down on one angle before the fast-approaching shore demanded a tack or gybe! As well as the many manoeuvres, the sailors had to deal with a big wind range as the breeze bounced through the hills, making it a real workout.
In the first race, all the sailors seemed to be a little rusty, with everybody doing their best to make it look difficult! Ewan Wilson and Martin Evans exchanged places throughout the race, with Will Crocker just behind. On the final gybe for the finish, Wilson snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and capsized. He almost righted in time, but Evans flew past in the closing metres to take the win, with Wilson second and Crocker third. From then on, Ewan Wilson dominated the scoreboard. Although Evans, Crocker and Andy Hutchinson challenged the top position at various stages in the racing, Wilson always did enough with the smoothest and cleanest manoeuvres to cross the line first. With four tough races completed, the sailors promptly made their way to the local pub to refuel and numb some aching muscles!
On day two, the wind was forecast to be anything from 13 to 23 knots. The direction was a little less favourable for the shape of the reservoir, so the shifts and gusts were massive! However, the course was now less narrow so the pressure to execute a huge number of tacks and gybes was relieved slightly. As the first race began, some rain brought gusts in the early twenties, making it a wild race with sailors regularly exceeding 20 knots of boat speed! From then on, the wind pulsed in and out with the clouds as they passed over the reservoir.
The battle between Wilson and Evans continued where it left off but always with the same outcome on the scoreboard – advantage to Wilson. Despite plenty of time in the lead, Evans found a way to throw it away, whilst Wilson, consistent as ever, chipped away and got the job done. Crocker and Hutchinson exchanged blows for the third and fourth positions, save for race two of the day, when Hutchinson had to rush back to the pits to replace a broken mainsheet. Craig Hepplewhite made a better job of the conditions relative to the previous day and got himself in the mix with Crocker and Hutchinson, scoring a couple of fourth places.
After eight races, Ewan Wilson took a convincing victory, with only one second place tarnishing an otherwise perfect record. Evans came in second and Will Crocker in third. First master went to Andy Hutchinson in fourth. A massive thanks goes to race officer Ben Haynes; local sailors Ross Hunter and Phil Ewart; and Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club for a fantastic event.
The next event on the WASZP UK calendar is the national championship at WPNSA from 23-26 June. Keep an eye on the WASZP UK social channels for all the action and contact Duncan at sailingfast.co.uk if you are interested in joining the swarm!