Report by Stee and Gill Leney

On June 14^th Blithfield greeted our stalwart Midland sailors to a breeze which was slightly more than predicted initially with cloud cover and full sit up conditions upwind for the HS Sails Midland Circuit Open 2026. 

Race 1

OD Rob, set a long beats, two reaches, another long beats and a run. Couldn't be better. However Rob put the windward mark in an area of the pool so far North it bamboozled the locals, myself included as the usual lifts did not occur in this area of the pond.  First around the windward mark was Sam Bailey and Nick Hydon, who would have probably maintained their position had Sam not decided to run across the back of the Merlin and forget to put his feet under the straps. So funny the air was blue.  Andy Davis and Chris Dodds won overall.

Race 2

Race 2 was held in dying wind and Rob was fearful of setting a big course and a 25 degree windshift prior to the start did not help.  This race was won by a considerable margin by Sam and Nick.

Race 3

With the course extended yet again and slightly more returning breeze.  Sam and Nick rounded the windward mark first and your reporters on their transom. The whole fleet was very tight in this race behind Sam and ourselves (Steve and Gill Leney) and you felt one shift wrong and the fleet would be past us. Even though we gained the lead midway through the race, Sam and Nick still snuggled past and beat us. 

Everybody in the club was severely caked as we had catered for far more visitors.  The furthest travelled to the meeting was Sean Anderson who came from Brisbane Australia to sail with his Dad, Colin. There's dedication for you.

Thank you to everyone who made it a nice day. The next event on the HS Sails Midland Circuit is at Burton Sailing Club on 28^th June.