A total of 27 boats took part in the 2012 Wednesday Evening Open Series hosted by Medway Yacht Club and sponsored by Barton Marine. The format of a 2 hour race followed by fine dining in the MYC restaurant provides a pleasant mid-week break enjoyed by the many competitors.

Boats raced under Portsmouth Yardstick handicap (amended locally). There were a variety of cruisers participating with entries varying from Exodus X442 to Y’not a Splinter 21 and a separate keelboat fleet of Dragons, Sonatas and Squibs.

Nine races were scheduled but with two abandoned due to lack of wind, the series was reduced to seven races with three discards. Competitors experienced a variety of conditions. In most races the breeze tended to drop as darkness approached but apart from one race most boats finished within the time limit.

Some local tweaking of the cruiser handicaps resulted in wins for six different boats but this didn’t detract from the overall results with the most consistent performers taking the prizes. Going into the last race any one of the top three cruisers could have won the series. In the end it was Zephros, a Dehler 34 that narrowly beat Y’not and Exodus.

In the keelboat fleet the Dragon Tia won the series with a race in hand. In second place was the race organisers Sonata Musical Express, crewed by Paul Botterill (Barton’s Production Director) with the Squib Thrifty a close third.

Thanks go to the many crews who braved some inclement conditions and to the Commodore Roger Bishop as Race Officer and for providing the results.

Barton Cruiser Trophy

1st Zephros T. French Syndicate
2nd Y’not T. Owens
3rd Exodus P. Luetchford
4th Lunan I. Hall
5th Mosaic J. Bolton

Barton Keelboat Trophy

1st Tia G. Taylor / G. Moon
2nd Musical Express M. Harrison / K. Hook
3rd Thrifty T.Newcombe
4th Harmony D. Mc Cauley /J. Clark
5th Nimrod S. Trinder / S. Griffiths