In the closest finish for many years, Paul Heys repeated his 2012 victory on the Stealth Cub, but only by virtue of the Club's oldest rider tie-break rule, Paul being six years older than runner up Anthony Cooper on his rasping Triumph Twin and eighteen years senior to bouncing Ben Butterworth on his Ariel pre unit springer, all three losing a single mark.
The Captain's Trial, one of the best attended Pre 65 trials in the country with the 130 places filled within 12 days of the regs being published, is a bit special in the Yorkshire Classic Club's trials calendar. It is one of the clubs oldest trials and is unique, held on the Castle Carr Country Estate just as the trials were in the 50's and 60's.
With its moorland landscape it is one of the most scenic areas of the Pennines and has all the hills, streams, gullies and quarries needed for an excellent trial. This is more than a club trial with riders travelling from far and wide to take part although club championship points are still up for grabs.
The sun shone from the start on the Pennine Valley for the first time in several years of the event to welcome the riders, a marked contrast to the snow and hail of the previous two years. Three laps of fifteen sections were set by Ady Brayshaw and his merry men with many old favourites used and tweaks to several of the previous classic tests.
Many riders found that they were already winners of Putoline products provided by event sponsors B & S Motorcycles in the draw before the start.
Chris Bradley Remembered
At the 10-30 start time, the riders gathered to pay tribute to Chris Bradley who passed away 2 days before the event after a 15 month battle with the big C. The minute's silence was immaculately observed and Chris's son came to the event and visited section 5 named Bradley's as a tribute to his father.
With such a big entry some queuing was inevitable so the 58 Clubmen started at section one whilst 70 riders on the premier route set off to section 7.
Unseasonably Dry
With little rain leading up to the event the long climb through the woods at section one was more about staying on the final upward curving ledge than finding grip. The Clubman route riders were given the full route for once and it was here that open class winner Gary Bloodworth dabbed for one of his total of two and Gordon Imrie dropped two of his four to concede the clubman's pre-unit win to Ossy Byers on his Triumph Twin. In addition, it was not only where Ian Hopley lost 5 of his six marks total and a potential single dab finish but also where Tony Calvert lost the front wheel over the edge to concede five that cost him second place in the Cub class.
Durham Lane
Section two uses what the old maps call Durham Lane. This uphill climb between dry stone walls takes marks every year with the narrow slot catching even the best for a dab or two. John Maxfield and Chris Haigh were two of the top contenders to dab here, but credit must go to some of the high scorers who also stayed clean. Tim Baker and John Harrison may have lost over seventy marks on the day but none of these were at Durham Lane.
In the Quarry
One new and two old favourites in the quarry greeted the riders with the observers basking in the spring sunshine. Not too many marks were lost here with Bradley's being more forgiving than usual.
Section seven was the section that was to take almost double the marks of any other section on the Premier route. It was here that the winners came to the top. Vesty with his riding specs away in Hannah's van came to grief here together with two stroke winner Nigel Greenwood on his nimble Bantam losing 50% of his marks.
The old favourite round the tree climb at section nine took the sole mark from overall winner Paul Heys but sidecar ace Robin Luscombe's Cub coughed at the wrong moment to take away his chance of joining the other riders on one. For the clubmen it was the cross cambered turn before the climb over the roots that caused the trouble. Clubman pre-unit winner Ossy Byers on his big twin dropped both his marks here.
The waterfall at section 10 is always looked forward to and this year an extra step was added to the Premier route line to make it even more of a classic. John Maxfield, Pete Clibburn and specials class winner Ian Hopley all dropped dabs here as did Imrie and Cocking on the Clubman route.
Luddenden Brook
The signature sections of the Captain's trial are those in the small river known as Luddenden Brook. One third of the sections are over the slippery rocks and anything can happen. The team created a new entry to the river for section 11 but surprisingly few marks were taken once the slime was removed. The following section had a new exit and the deep water concealed some large hidden rocks. For some reason the big Twins suffered more than any other class here with only Anthony Cooper staying penalty free.
Section 13 gets easier each year on the premier route but the clubmen found the exit tricky, with Pete Baldwin falling the eight foot from the exit into the river below and unfortunately dislocating his jaw in the process.
The last two sections were unchanged from the previous year but once again the final section was the sting in the tail. Cooper lost his only point here and Ben Butterworth was forced into his only dab when the front end slipped away. Of the pre units only Dave Emmott stayed clear and Mark McComisky was the only twin to stay clean making the trip south of the border worthwhile. Neil Buckley on the sole Enfield Crusader was also the only large unit single to leave without penalty.
Fantastic Event
But on a day as pleasant as this in such beautiful surroundings the talk afterwards was of an excellent event set at the right level. Perhaps the top riders would prefer a bit more bite but the club's policy of keeping sections rideable and not designed to stop the experts, was appreciated by the majority of the riders.
Roll on next March!