Miracle Champs Day 2
Published 21:42 on 24 Sep 2026
Shan continues her coverage of the Miracle Welsh Area Champs: Day 2
Sunday morning dawned bright and blustery with a definite Autumn chill in the air; crews gathered on shore looking at the lake, white horses again! The wind direction was consistent with Saturday, ideal for Shotwick, coming off the estuary. Ashleigh and Danielle joined us for the day from Leigh and Lowton in a similar FRP Miracle to Dave and Shans.
Conrad and James were once again in charge of the racing, with Les and Dave on safety duty. The course remained the same for the two back-to-back morning races. Club sailors in other classes of dinghy raced in a handicap fleet starting five minutes behind the Miracles, although a few regulars were put off by the weather!
It was a clean start for all the Miracles in the first race of the morning, 'race 3', with everyone close at the windward mark, with Wayne, just in front of Dave and Matt. The first three boats had to be on their game, with fast and furious close racing throughout the 5 laps with some great spinnaker work from crews Zara, Angela and Julie. Eventually Dave took line honours, just in front of Wayne, who he sailed into weed just before the finish. Graham and Helen, Mark and Ian continuously changed places throughout the race with Mark crossing the line in front. With the battle of the FRP Miracles next, often racing alongside each other. Eventually Ashleigh and Danielle crossed the line first. Miracle 4108, lovingly built by Geoff actually had the first finish of the day, just a lap behind, but sailed well by Geoff and Dav.
The wind was building for race 4, but following a clean start and a difficult beat through waves and gusts Wayne reached the windward mark first and took only 8 minutes to complete the lap, followed closely by Dave. This race saw close sailing between Mark and Matt, the fast planning reach was super scary with a spinnaker. Matt and Julie opted out but Mark and devil may care Ian, hoisted and managed to hang on to it, making up considerable distance in the strong gusts.
On the final lap, Matt and Julie, still in third place, decided they really had to use the spinnaker. Julie, strong and determined, had the spinnaker flying and the Miracle flying too! A gust hit, Matt bore away and……. they lost steering, the boat spun round ; chasing boats, spectators were baffled but Mark and Ian continued the course, crossed the line third behind Dave, with another first for Wayne. Meanwhile Matt and Julie, dropped sails and limped home, their rudder had sheared off, the safety crew found it floating on the lake. This was sadly the end of their championship. Everyone was impressed with the standard of sailing of both Matt and Julie, and hopes to see them on the water very soon.
As we enjoyed our picnic lunch outside, talk was of the great sailing, unfortunate breakages and the scores on the leaderboard. The top two Miracles were level on 8 pts each. The Championship would be decided on the final race.
As the starting hooter sounded, Dave was pushed out of the start by the windward boats, missing the start completely, whilst Wayne surged ahead, Dave finally starting in last place. At the windward mark, Dave and Zara had made up most of the ground lost, rounding second behind Wayne and moving into the lead after the first lap. The following three boats changed places throughout the race, but it was Dave and Zara in championship form who pulled away from the fleet to take line honours and the Miracle Welsh Area Championships again. They even sailed a lap of honour, too excited to hear the hooter!
The prizegiving was held in the clubhouse to a packed audience. Dave Thomas, Shotwick Sailing Secretary, thanked everyone for attending, including the race team and the galley girls. And of course, all the competitors from home and away who made the event special.
The overall winner of the Welsh Area Championship, retaining their title, were Dave and Zara, with visitors Wayne and Angela in second place. This year we decided to also give a prize to the highest placed club boat. As many of our visitors were seasoned Miracle sailors, with National credentials, we thought our boats would struggle to make the podium. It was good to be proved wrong, with two club boats in 3rd and 4th place. Mark and Ian highest club boat, 3rd and 4th place to Matt and Julie.
It was a fantastic weekend of sailing with great competition on the water. We're looking forward to our Miracle Open next year, when we hope even more visitors will attend our great little club.
Final results:
1st Miracle 3794, Dave Turtle, Zara Frankton, Shustoke S.C.
2nd Miracle 4121, Wayne Atherton, Angela Sweeney, Delph S.C.
3rd Miracle 4010, Mark Nield, Ian Duncan, Shotwick Lake S.C.
4th Miracle 4011, Matt Bennet, Julie Dolman, Shotwick Lake S.C.
5th Miracle 4130, Graham Watts, Helen Jacks, Staunton Harold S.C.
6th Miracle 401, Ashleigh Southwell, Danielle Boalie, Leigh and Lowton S.C.
7th Miracle 4103, Dave Thomas, Shan Stapley, Shotwick Lake S.C.
8th Miracle 4108, Geoff Weir, Dav Turtle, Shotwick Lake S.C.
9th Miracle 3705, Jim Young, Chris Drapper. Shotwick Lake S.C.
photo: Winners Dave and Zara Turtle
Lots more photo and video on the club Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ShotwickLakeSailingClub
With more video to come once sorted...
Last updated 21:45 on 24 September 2026
