The National Solo Welsh Championship
3rd/4th May 2003

The forecast of gales did not stop the 34 competitor taking part in the Solo Welsh Championship held on the 3rd and 4th May 2003. True to form the gales did not appear during the day but passed in the early hours of the morning. It was a 5 race series with the best 4 races to count.

The first race on Saturday started in a force two from the West, first to the windward mark was Ken Falcon closely followed by Simon Jones, Andrew Davis and Bob Taylor. No changes were made on the next leg but on the third leg, this was another beat the wind freshened, this caused quite a few changes to the minor places. Falcon however held onto the lead to the finish with Davis second and Jones third.

The second race started with the wind back to a force 2 from the same westerly direction this time Jones was first to the windward mark with Falcon, Davis and Chris Brown in close pursuit. Falcon used all his experience to eventually pass Jones on the run only for Jones to pass Falcon on the up wind leg. Jones held onto take first place followed by Falcon Jones and Brown.

The third race started with the same wind strength and direction. Falcon made the most of it followed by local boy Taylor. This pair opened a good lead before Davis rounded the windward mark closely followed by Paul Goodhead. On the second lap Davis gained on the front two to make it a three boat race. Taylor passed Falcon on the run and held on to take first place while Falcon protected his overall position covering Davis to the line.

The evening of the 3rd saw 38 sailors and their partners attend a local restaurant which has an historical background attached to the Abbey of Margam, all had a good night reliving the days sailing and renewing old acquaintances. One inquisitive visitor no names, but has a connection with the old art of bird keeping wanted to know some of the history. Unfortunately even when he was told what the building was originally used for he didn’t believe the story from the Wizard. Not to be beaten we have sent out our local historian (Stan the Man) to investigate, watch this space Ken (woops).

The fleet were greeted to a force 5 from the south for the first race on Sunday. This wind direction allowed race officer Michael Hewlins to give the fleet a beat the full length of the lake (just under a mile) setting a reverse 'P' type course. Tony Lock taking the right side of the course led to the windward mark followed by Davis, Falcon, Jones, Barry Green and Mark Simpson. Falcon soon made his way to the front and was not challenged taking first place. Unfortunately for Jones who got up to second his halyard started to shred this dropped him down the field allowing Davis to take second Green third and Simpson fourth.

The wind was still the same as race 4 for the start of the last race; this allowed the race officer to set the same course. Two of the competitors Paul Kimmens and Neville Champion to try out their ‘B’ plan sails unfortunately for them the wind dropped just on the start and their gamble did not pay off Davis lead to the windward mark and pulled clear to win while Falcon fought through to second from a bad start and Brown secured third.

Pos Helm Sail No Race1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Points
1 Ken Falcon 4273 1 2 2 1 2 6
2 Andy Davis 4437 2 3 3 2 1 8
3 Simon Jones 4300 3 1 9 6 6 16
4 Chris Brown 4461 9 4 5 5 3 17
5 Bob Taylor 4355 7 5 1 35 8 21
6 Mark Simpson 4378 10 7 8 4 35 29
7 Tony Lock 4384 11 9 12 8 4 32
8 Mike Ball 4394 5 11 6 10 35 32
9 Ralph Weller 4371 12 12 10 7 5 34
10 Paul Lester 3966 15 27 14 9 9 47
11 Barry Green 4442 4 8 35 3 35 50
12 Paul Goodhead 4312 8 6 4 35 35 53
13 Glen Wilbraham 4140 16 17 13 18 11 57
14 Ian Aplin 3920 17 10 19 20 14 60
15 Paul Govier 4438 13 24 15 25 10 62
16 John Hibberd 3951 21 15 11 24 16 63
17 Alan Dance 4322 20 18 7 21 35 66
18 Stan Williams 4397 14 26 20 35 7 67
19 Richard Butterfield 4264 23 25 18 12 15 68
20 Steve Jones 4146 19 19 22 13 17 68
21 Steve Whitby 4085 24 23 23 11 12 69
22 John Davey 3965 22 20 27 15 13 70
23 Cliff Crawshaw 4295 6 14 16 35 35 71
24 Paul Kimmens 3960 18 16 24 14 23 71
25 Phil O'Kane 4286 25 13 21 19 18 71
26 Graham Don 4421 29 28 30 16 19 92
27 Mike Dunbavin 4347 31 31 26 17 20 94
28 Neville Champion 3464 26 22 25 22 35 95
29 Tony Russell 4150 27 21 17 35 35 100
30 Richard White 2966 33 30 28 26 21 105
31 George Gilchrist 4364 28 29 31 23 35 111
32 Ros Downs 2132 34 33 33 28 22 116
33 John Strange 4427 30 32 32 27 35 121
34 George Keighley 3613 32 34 29 29 35 124

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South Staffs Note:- Paul would have had a higher finish but, following a rather tiring capsize in race 4 and with high winds forecast for race 5, he made the decision not to sail. As it happened, the wind dropped for the final race but that, as they say, is sailing.