Cherub Nationals

These were held with the Moths at Pembrokeshire YC

The UK Cherub Nationals were held, with the Moths, at Pembrokeshire YC.

It's good to be sharing with the Moths again, the UK's two most innovative development Classes have a lot in common, the only fly in the ointment being that those who have both a Moth and a Cherub have a decision to make!

There were 19 Cherubs entered - the third successive year to have an increase in numbers and the best turnout since the early 90s. As ever there were a considerable variety of boats entered, but the top seeds were three former champions, Dave Roe, Andy Paterson and Robin Russell, plus young
pretender Gavin Sims in his new boat which he designed, built, made the spars and even cut the fore and aft sails.

Gavin has been burning up the handicap events this year, and much was expected.

Day 1 can best be described as glorious - 20 to 25 knot winds, bright sunshine and thus exciting sailing. It was also Robin Russel and Will Lee’s day as they scored 2,1 in their preferred conditions.

Dave Roe and Clare Warren scored 1,4, tying with Gavin Sims and Simon Goodwin with 3,2, and Andy Paterson and Ross Clark just behind with 4,5. Also in the hunt were Tim Dean and Una-Mary Colclough with 5,7, Mark Chamberlain and ? Willey with 6,6, and Phil Alderson and Michael Garrington with 7,3.

Day two started a little lighter, and dropped through the day, with under 10 knots throughout the last race. Sims was on red hot form for these conditions, scoring 2,1,1,1 to take the lead in the series.

Russell kept well in touch with 1,3,3,4, Roe dropped back with 3,2,6,7, and Paterson catching fast as the wind eased with 4,4,2,2. Dean’s, 9,6,8,6 dropped then back a bit, while Alderson scored 5,5,4,11, and Chamberlain 8,10,7,3. Also coming into contention for the top of the table were Patrick Cunningham and David Hannaford, who had miseed the first day, but scored 6,7,5 then a first on the water by a large margin, which they then lost in the protest room over a start line incident.

Day three was rather more forgettable. A minimal gradient wind fought with an insipid sea breeze over the course and eventually lost, but between them there was rarely much over 5knots. This suited Paterson nicely, as he scored 1,1,1 to move into contention for the lead. Sims scored 2,2,2 to remain in front, while Roe and Russell faded in the light airs, a 7th and an 11th respectively being their best results. Cunningham, strong in the lighter airs, scored 4,4,3, and Chamberlain 5,5,4, but a bug saw Alderson unable to sail for the day.

The last day started with Sims well in the lead, but two firsts (and nothing else!) would do it for Paterson.

A long postponement looked ominous for Paterson, but eventually race started in a breeze that barely made the minimum windspeed requirements. A sudden hole in the wind on the start line saw two boats caught with no rights, but also no steerage way right on the line, and in the resultant tangle left Sims at the back of the fleet. Paterson on the other hand got away clear to win a very short race.

The last race also saw a very vicious and complicated - not to mention vocal - starting sequence, and Paterson’s experience showed as he wriggled clear of the jams, whilst again Sims was buried. With light airs again for the race there was no way for Sims to recover , and Paterson took the championship from Sims. Chamberlain finished strongly (and started controversially!) with 2,4 to take third overall, with Aldersons 4,2 taking them to 4th. Russell, who’s challenge had faded with the wind, was 5th.

Two and a half days of light airs made for a slightly disappointing Championship, and certainly assisted Paterson and Clark’s win. The Paterson 7 designs, very narrow with vertical topsides, are extremely strong in lighter winds, with all three Paterson 7s at the Championships scoring top 3 places in the lighter winds, but only Alderson managing a top 3 place in the three strong breeze races. In contrast Russell’s Roberts designed Slug, superb in a blow, struggled in lighter airs, although to be fair Russell and Lee are also one of the heaviest crews in the fleet. Gavin Sims and Simon Goodwin have obviously produced the best all round boat in the fleet at the moment, home designed, and built - they not only built hull and spars, but even cut their distinctive clear mylar film for and aft sails.

They must be bitterly disappointed at missing out at the last gasp, but in the end Paterson’s experience paid, and the much younger Sims and Goodwin will have many more chances at the championship.

Results:

Pos	Name	Helm	Crew	Total
1st	Shiny Beast	Andy Paterson	Ross Clark	13
2nd	Mango Jam	Gavin Sims	Simon Goodwin	13
3rd	Dangerous Strawberry	Mark Chamberlain	Scott Willey	35
4th	Aqua Marina	Phil Alderson	Michael Garrington	41
5th	Green Slug	Robin Russell	Will Lee	45
6th	Fizzy Shark	Tim Dean	Una-Mary Colclough	49
7th	The Pasta Frenzy	Dave Roe	Clare Warren	50
8th	Little Red Number	Patrick Cunningham	David Hannaford	51
9th	Fuzzy Logic	Martin Hurst	Jon Garfitt	54
10th	Pistrix	Joe Snawdon	Natalie Butcher	65
11th	Geriatric Gigolo	Murray Tosh	Bruce Lenton	66
12th	Cheese before Bedtime	Nick Hankins	Nigel Sims	76
13th	Squid	Graham Dickenson	Sarah Tindall	89
14th	Eat My Wake	Christopher Holman	Thomas Hamilton	98
15th	Little Fluffy Clouds	Ben Brown	Daryl Wilkinson	102
16th	Halo Jones	Alex Adams	Jim Champ	108
17th	Strangely Brown	Gary Butland	Simon Turnbull	123
18th		Simon Roberts	Lucy Lee	155
19th	Team Scotland	Neil Cardno	Ken Scott-Brown	160