Blaze Wins Boxing Day

Published 17:34 on 30 Dec 2022

After what had no doubt been a very cold week for many, and once too many mince pies for many more, the sailors at Chase were greeted by wall-to-wall sunshine and a steady breeze for the annual boxing day pursuit.

A strong fleet of 18 boats we led away once again by Bethan Evans in her Lightning 368, into what was becoming an ever-strengthening breeze, much to the delight of the faster boats.

As the fleets were getting underway, there were quite a few eager beavers (we'll blame the outbreak of tinsellitis), who all came back to the start to try again!

With 30mins to go, it was the Solo's of Ben & Sam Pickering who were holding a steady lead over the fleet, however the faster boats, namely the Blaze of Eden Hyland & the Phantom of his brother Josh, were starting to carve their way through the fleet.

Now it is probably a good point to mention a couple of capsizes along the way, making sure the rescue crews were kept occupied for the who hour and made sure they had earned their cheese cobs when they got ashore!

With 10mins to go the lead had changed, the Blaze had finally overcome the stranglehold of the Solo's and had breezed off into the distance in the now strong but still shifty breeze. The battle for 3rd & 4th was still on going with the Josh and Sam continuing to hold each other off until the dying minutes when the inevitable speed of the Phantom came through to take 3rd.

A big thank you to all who helped out on Boxing Day, we couldn't do it without you!

Make sure you keep an eyeout for our events in 2023, its going to be a bumper year!

See you all in 2023.

Last updated 19:34 on 29 April 2025