NCSC Scorpion Open 2025
The rearranged Scorpion Open saw a good entry 26. John Sears was Race officer (and took most of photos). There were entries from Sheffield, Bartley, Frensham Ponds, Lymington, Pennnine, Chase, Leeds and Rye.
Scorpion End of Season Open – Notts County Sailing Club by Jerry Hannabuss
The 2025 EOS open was re-scheduled to the weekend of 8th/9th of November due to no wind on the original October date, but despite this 25 boats turned out for the weekend.
Saturday saw 3 back to back races with light winds and tricky shifts being the order of the day. Despite this there was great racing, and well laid courses by the race team.
Unsuprisingly it was Tom Gillard and Rachel Gray who dominated the day with 3 wins showing great boat handling and boat speed throughout the day. Behind them there was lots of close racing with constant place changes as the breeze flicked from one side to another. Race one saw Chris Martin& John Tailby take 2nd with Nigel Potter and Jerry Hannabuss taking 3rd. In race 2 it was Kev Hope and Rob Gardner who took silver from Martin and Tailby taking Bronze. The last Saturday race saw the breeze dropping slightly as the evening drew towards us, with Hope and Garner once again following Gillard/Gray to take 2nd with Sarah and Richard Mason breaking free of the chasing pack to take 3rd just ahead of their Daughter Sammy crewed by Hatty Connolly in a Scorpion Youth Academy boat.
Sunday saw 2 races placed either side of the 2 minutes silence, with slightly more breeze than on the Saturday. The first race saw the dominance of Tom and Rachel challenged by Kev and Rob who took victory to stop a clean sweep for the weekend, with Tom and Rachel in 2nd followed by Potter / Hannabuss in 3rd. In the final race it was these 3 who once again took the podium positions, but this time normal service was resumed with Gillard/Gray taking the honours. 1st Youth Sammy Mason and Hatty Connolly
A great weekend of racing, well organised by the race team and Notts County as a whole. Bring on 2026!
Thanks to John Sears for photos
