Day one called off

The National 12 and Lark classes could only manage one day of racing at Pagham SC

Many competitors made the trip to the Pagham SC for the Lark and National 12 Open Meetings, only to be greeted by surf and bad visibility making launching and sailing almost impossible on Saturday.

Thankfully, Sunday dawned with blue skies and 12-15 knots of breeze to go with the slightly sore heads from the extended evening in the bar the previous night.

Lark:

Race one was started on a pin biased line, with the fleet splitting up the first beat. Steve Hall and Simon Haighton, Simon Cox and Joe Hunt and Nigel Hufton and Ruth Johnson all met at the windward mark at the same time, with Hall & Haighton managing to get above both Cox & Hunt and Hufton & Johnson to lead at the gybe mark. The top two positions remained unchanged through the remainder of the race, with Chris Whitehouse and Jane Alexander coming through to third, and Steve Cumley and Eluned Jones coming through from a bad first beat to finish fourth.

Hufton and Johnson led around the first windward mark in race two followed by Cumley and Jones and Hall and Haighton. These positions remained unchanged until Hall and Haighton managed to work through into first place, overtaking Hufton and Johnson on the penultimate reach.

Race three saw Cox and Hunt lead round the windward mark followed by Cumley and Jones. Both boats had an impressive lead over the fleet after working the left hand side of the beat. These two boats sailed away from the fleet to leave everyone else fighting for the smaller places, after a long battle Hufton and Johnson took third from Nigel Scott and Rachel Rhodes in fourth.

With three boats still in contention to win the event there was a very tightly bunched fleet at the windward mark; with Hufton and Johnson just taking the lead it was all change on lap two as Hufton and Johnson got the side of a very big left shift allowing Paul Gardner and Alison Dart into the lead from Dave Young and Nicola Attwood. With the shifts getting larger Hall and Haighton managed to work their way back through the fleet to take the lead on the penultimate lap with Cumley and Jones pulling through into second. Hall and Haighton took their third bullet to win the event with minimum points from Cumley and Jones.

The Larks would like to thank Pagham YC for hosting a great weekend both on and off the water. We look forward to returning next year!

National 12

The first race of the day was closely fought with several boats in contention throughout. Jon Ibbotson and Charlotte Stewart were the early leaders but were unable to stop Richard Williams and Lindsey Iles taking advantage of a left shift on the second beat to take the lead and the race. In race two Ibbotson and Stewart took early control and comfortably protected their lead from the chasing pack through to the finish.

Iles and Wade were the early pace setters in race three and continued to lead for several laps but dropped to third after choosing to conservatively play the shifts in the middle of the beat while Williams and Iles found favourable breeze on the left to take the race.

With a slender one point lead going into the final race Williams and Iles chose to stay with Ibbotson and Stewart from the start. Having completed more tacks in one race than in a week of championship racing, Williams and Iles were relieved to cross the finish line ahead to take the event.

Results:

Lark

1-Steve Hall and Simon Haighton, Northampton 3pts
2-Steve Cumley and Eluned Jones, Barnt Green 7pts
3-Simon Cox and Joe Hunt, Waldringfield 9pts
4-Nigel Hufton and Ruth Johnson, Frensham Pond 11pts
5-Nigel Scott and Rachel Rhodes, RYA 12pts
6-Chris Whitehouse and Jane Alexander, Ranelagh 16pts

National 12

1-Rich Williams and Lindsay Iles
2-Jon Ibbotson and Char Stewart
3-Antony and Jo Gifford
4-Kevin Iles and Jane Wade