Adrian wins it again!!

The British buggy racing season has been a succesful one, the finals were held last week, Matthew Job reports.

The 4^th and final round of the English national series was held this weekend 25-26^th June at Hoylake in the north of England.  This was the second time the series has visited this beach this year and we were hoping the wind was better this time.   It was also a momentous occasion and a first for the local club that two kiting events were held on the beach at the same time with great success.  Just confirming the available space which we can use for European Championships. Due to the WSYC 24hr event, our base for this weekend was the local sailing club.  With most of the competitors arriving on the Friday night, it was out for a meal and a couple of drinks to catch up with everyone and then an earlier than usual night due to the early start on the Saturday morning.  By the time we retired it was already raining which continued all night, thus not boding well for a successful event, however by the time we woke the rain had cleared and the beach was drying well and most importantly the wind was up.

As everyone made their way out on to the beach the race master had already set the course and a pilots briefing was held exactly on time.  Time for a quick lap to check out the course and it was on with the first race.  5.4’s and 6.5’s kites were the choice for the PL riders with Alison opting for the 3.8.  It was a good start for us all with Adrian quickly adopting his usual position at the front of the fleet, followed by Ryan and myself. Halfway though the enduro race the wind began to drop and I was past by a fellow competitor, “Tommy”, but a quick kite change up to the 9.8 and I was back in third, Adrian and Ryan changed up to the 11’s maintaining their positions with Adrian passing his 6.5m to Alison.  Race Result: Adrian 1^st, Ryan 2^nd and Matt 3^rd, Alison 2^nd Lady.  This was a good result for me as I gained another point over Tommy who was chasing me closely for 3^rd in the overall championship.

The second race quickly followed and the wind had picked back up so it was 5s and 6’s to start with.  This and the remaining races were back to the normal 3 lap races so good starts were imperative.

A brief tangle on the start held me and a few other competitor up enabling the usual order to develop with Adrian leading the way again.  I quickly recovered to 4^th.  The beach was drying well so various alternative routes were becoming available thus allowing us to choose the ideal lines.  A late surge by another competitor on a larger kite than me on the last lap lost me a place and a point to Tommy. Race Result: Adrian 1^st, Ryan 2^nd and Matt 5^th, Alison 2^nd Lady. A break for lunch followed allowing the racers participating in the 24hour event to attend their pilots briefing, and their race was started.  During the break the wind was a bit unstable fluctuating between 15 and 25mph.

Race 3 was called with a 15 minute count down.  5 and 6m kites were the choice for most people but minutes before the start the wind dropped a little and a few of us managed to change up sizes.  This left us a little tight for the race start but the larger kites allowed us to quickly regain positions over the pilots who hadn’t changed.  By the start of lap two, it was Adrian 1st, Me 3^rd and Ryan 4^th.  An increase in the wind speed over the next lap resulted in me being a little overpowered and Ryan was able to regain his 3^rd place.   This also led to Alison being overpowered on the 4.5m and despite a wheel to wheel battle at times, she was thwarted in her attempts to stay ahead of Karen and therefore was unable to level the score. Race Result:  Adrian 1^st, Ryan 3^rd and Matt 4^th, Alison 2^nd Lady. As the conditions were good, and as by completing one more race an additional discard would be obtained, a 4^th race was called.  A quick check of the scores confirmed Adrian and Ryan’s position in the championship, however the additional discard resulted in Tommy and myself being tied for 3^rd in the championship, thus the outcome of this 4^th race would determine my overall championship position.

Determined to do well and not loose a position by choosing a kite too big as is the temptation I opted for the 4.5m.  It was a good choice and combined with the very good start I made I was leading the race, perfect!.  We proceeded round the first lap and as we turned into the upwind leg I realised I’d made a mistake as Adrian, Tommy and Ryan all sailed by.  Realising I would not be able to catch them if I followed the same line, I chose a drastically different route, unfortunately this didn’t pay off and bar a mistake by them I wasn’t going to catch up.  This didn’t happen and the race concluded without me catching up.  Alison however got a very good start on the 3.2m which was just the right kite and finally managed to finish ahead of Karen. Adrian 1^st, Ryan 3rd and Matt 5^th, Alison 1^st Lady.

This concluded the racing for the day and for the championship.  So it was a quick packup and on to the prize giving and end of season party hosted at Hoylake sailing club. A big thanks to the PKA, WSYC and to Hoylake Sailing club for a great weekend.

The detailed results for the weekend and overall championship can be found on the PKA website at http://www.parakartassociation.co.uk/ with the Peter Lynn riders finishing as below.

Masters:

1^st Adrian Lavelle
2^nd Ryan McGavin
4^th Matt Job

Ladies:

2^nd Alison Summersfield

See you all at Hoylake in September for the European Championships.

Matt.