Championship Reports 2008
European Championships 26th-28th July
Bala Catamaran Club
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The Championship was fought out by 14 competitors in Force 1 and 2 breezes at Bala Cat Club over the W/E 26-28 July.
Race 1. PAUL ELLIS (Sobstad) and ROGER HODGKISON (Northrop) caught early leader STUART EDE (Northrop) and showed they meant business! GARETH EDE (Northrop) famous for boat speed also showed he was a serious contender. Crucially PAUL did not cover ROGER closely enough and was pipped on the line.
Race 2. GARETH’s cracking start helped him hold the lead all the way despite the chasing pack closing him down. JOHN PEPERELL (Sobstad) held 2nd until STUART squeezed past on the final beat.
Race 3. PAUL was first to the windward mark chased by STUART and DAVE JENNINGS (TI). Light wind expert DAVE held off a late challenge from young GARETH.
Race 4. PAUL again got a full speed start and made no mistakes to get a 2nd win. ALASTAIR FORREST (Dolphin) was close all the way but CLIFF ANTILL (Northrop) caught him on the run to take second place.
Race 5. DAVE had the lead for much of this one lap race, coming back strongly when briefly overtaken by GARETH. But he couldn’t hold off PAUL and GARETH at the leeward mark. PAUL held on to win with ALASTAIR and GARETH 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Race 6. Deciding how to get through the pressure hole at the windward mark was the key to this race. Sail inshore too early and you ended up in a parking lot! The leaders PAUL, STUART and ALASTAIR kept to the centre of the lake and found more pressure. These three broke away and exchanged the lead several times. PAUL had the lead when it counted and added his fourth win to his score line and claimed the European Champion title in style.
|
1st |
Paul Ellis |
6 points |
|
2nd |
Stuart Ede |
14 |
|
3rd |
Gareth Ede |
17 |
|
4th |
Alastair Forrest |
20 |
|
5th |
Cliff Antill |
22 |
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6th |
Dave Jennings |
29 |
|
7th |
George Evans |
33 |
|
8th |
Nigel Harrison |
41 |
|
9th |
Roger Hodgkison |
48* |
|
10th |
John Peperell |
49* |
* Hodgkison only sailed Sat., Peperell did not sail Sun.
Fun Races
TEAM RACE
The ‘Southern Strongmen’ were too strong for the others but next year we will get our revenge!
|
1st |
Southern Strongmen |
(Paul, Alastair, Matthew Bennett) |
4 points |
|
2nd |
Middlesex Maulers |
(John, Dave, Chris Phillips) |
10 |
|
3rd |
Bala Bruisers |
(George, Mal Phillips, Tony Costall) |
11 |
|
4th |
Yorkshire Tykes |
(Gareth, Stuart, Nigel Harrison) |
11 |
RELAY RACE
The Relay Race provided a thrilling finish to the “Bala Gala”. As our Olympic relay team found, it was the changeover that was crucial. A spectacular hand over from Paul Ellis to Tony Costall could so easily have been disastrous, as Tony snatched the ball at speed on his leeward side while his windward hull lifted alarmingly. However, he scrambled back to windward just quickly enough to avert a capsize. This gave the Blue Team a healthy lead, but Nigel Harrison sailed heroically to be close on Tony’s heels at the windward mark. In the ensuing downwind duel Nigel just squeezed past to snatch victory on the line for the Yellows.
|
1st |
Yellow Team |
(Alastair, Stuart, John Langford, Nigel) |
|
2nd |
Blue Team |
(Matthew Bennett, John, Paul, Tony)
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National Championships Bassenthwaite Sailing Club May 3rd-5th 2008 A very windy Bassenthwaite was the scene for the 2008 National Championships over the May Day Bank Holiday 3-5 May.
Race 1. ALASTAIR FORREST was first to the windward mark but GARETH EDE proved very fast on the reaches and extended his lead to win. ROGER HODGKISON and CLIFF ANTILL pressured ALASTAIR finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Race 2. A long distance job up the lake and back. NIGEL HARRISON’s good start came to nothing. ROGER, flying his new Northrop sail to good effect, led up the long beat while CLIFF worked his magic at the windward mark. GARETH again showed blistering speed on the reaches. However, he sailed into a pressure hole on the last beat, enabling CLIFF to claim second place behind ROGER.
Race 3. The wind really picked up blowing force 6 and gusting 7. A broken outhaul put CLIFF out. ROGER fluffed a tack and so did GARETH in the near gale. STUART made a move into 3rd as CHRIS PHILLIPS was submarining the reach. ALASTAIR slipped past STUART who tripped his mast.
Race 4. GARETH came out sporting his small sail and what a good decision that proved to be! However, it was not enough to catch ROGER who added his third win. STUART, also using a Northrop sail for the first time, found he was able to power past ALASTAIR on the reach to take third place.
Race 5. The wind abated and GARETH saw his chance. Making a cracking start was crucial, but he dropped his mainsheet and hit ALASTAIR! This gifted the lead to ROGER, who threw it away by grounding. CLIFF touched bottom also and broke a dagger arm but still managed to be first at the windward mark. However Roger was not done and made up 2 places. Stuart moved up behind CLIFF who couldn’t point. CLIFF held off STUART’s challenge to hang onto second place. Meanwhile ROGER claimed the championship in emphatic style with his fourth win to make a perfect score line.
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