What a stunning end to the amazing Frostbite series.
Steve West – Race Director, as usual delivered a couple of days of action packed racing around the creeks of Hayling Island.
Friday saw 2 main timed races with a beach start.
Race 1 – 2 miles
Race 2 – 3.5 miles
Race 1 got underway just after lunch. Stunning conditions, so sunny, bit of light wind. The mass start was carnage. I was in totally the wrong position & had to paddle the long route round the pack to gain a great position by the first turn right up behind Mike Ellicott who was in 2nd position in the unlimited class! I was a little shocked at how well i’d got off the line & leading the 12’6 class by a fair margin.
After the turn we headed back slightly into the wind & Mike had pulled well away leaving me open to the elements on my own. Within quarter of a mile from the finish Mark Slater currently second place & John Hibbard 3rd in Unlimited class had caught me up & were along side at the final turn to the beach.
All three of us smashed it as hard as possible to the finish line. I made a fatal mistake of jumping off a little early, the water was too deep to run & Mark beat me to the line by 3 seconds! Gutted to have lost 1st place but pretty chuffed with the overall result.
By Race 2 the wind had really picked up! i had a better position for the mass start for the second course, but with such strong wind behind us we all flew across the bay in a really tight pack, catching some awesome little glides along the way made it a right laugh, the most fun of any race to date! As we turned into the far creek the wind dropped & the pack drew out to position. I tucked in with Mark at the front of the 12’6 class right behind the top 3 unlimited riders.
Positions remained the same until the very end when Ryan James struggled with balance & weed & dropped back leaving me Mark & John battling to the finish again.
My results
Race 1 – 2nd Place
Race 2 – 2nd Place
Series Results after 9 races & 4 events:
2nd Place 12’6 🙂