Round 4 of the UKWA Midlands Series was held at Barnt Green on Saturday 2nd June. Eighteen Sailboarders from all over the Midlands competed in junior and adult categories. It was a successful event consisting of five closely fought races which included four Barnt Green sailors, John Pullan, Robin Brown, Brett Stephenson and myself taking part. The sun shone and the winds were light, force one occasionally two from the South West veering Westerly in races 4 and 5. The day required lots of sail pumping but occasionally we did manage to hook in to our harness lines and plane.

NICOLA GRANGER RECEIVING HER PRIZE FROM ROBIN BROWN   The intense competition was not just limited to the front of the fleet as the Barnt Green contingent also fought it out between themselves for the minor placings in the 7.5 category behind Mike Playle with John Pullan initially staking his claim for first Barnt Green Sailor in Race 1 until gear failure forced him to retire in race 2. After Johns retirement Chris Pack, Robin Brown and Brett Stevenson fought out the final races with Chris Pack taking second place in the 7.5’s (winning the first Barnt Green sailor trophy!) with Robin Brown third and Brett Stevenson fourth.

In the Junior event visiting sailor Nicola Grainger came first in the 7.8 class with Jamie Ingram second and Charlie Money third and Matt Brown took the 6.8 title with Amy Barrett and Luke Foster second and third respectively. Honours in the adult groups went to Bob Ingram who won the unlimited Race board category and the overall title. Tim Gibson was second in the unlimited class with Tim Colles third. In the 7.5 Race board category Mike Playle from Hollowell Sailing club won with a sailing master class. Mike was competing with and regularly beating the unlimited sailors with his much smaller sail. He consistently got excellent starts and won the 4th race outright.   The real find of the day was Brett who actually sailed a Race board for the first time ever, other than the five minutes practice before the first race! He competed fantastically well making the rest of us fight for our places in every race. Well done Brett. A big thank you must also go to everyone in the duty team of Brian Allen, John and Rosemary Preston, Piers Allott, George Puttock, Rebecca Stevenson, Barry Lucas, Lisa and Fred Rollins for the galley and Barbara Pack. Thanks for giving up your time to support this event and ensuring that it ran smoothly.