Big winds for skiffs

At day one of the 18ft skiff grand prix in Plymouth

Based at the Mount Batten Centre, and run by Mayflower Sailing Club with Commodore Dave Curno acting as principal race officer, the 18 foot Skiff national championship began today in Plymouth Sound.

As all connoisseurs of 18 footers know, these boats are equipped with two rigs, one of which is big and the other very big. This practical way of making the Skiffs fly in conditions across the wind range works well, provided that the right rig is up at the right time, making the decision on using the No 1 or the No 2 rig critical. Nine times out of ten, the choice is fairly easy, but occasionally the sailors are deceived by the conditions, and yesterday was one of those occasions.

With a forecast of winds possibly reaching force 6, and the anemometer on the breakwater reportedly twirling at the rate of 19 knots, the entire fleet opted for what seemed to be the obvious choice; the No 2 rig. Once on the course, however, it was all too obvious that it should have been No 1.

Feeling they were all in the same similarly equipped boat, almost the entire fleet took the fairly obvious decision to get on with the job as they were. The one exception was Computacenter, sailed by Jon Bennett, Andy Jeffries and Nick Jerkins, who decided to go back and switch rigs while the first race was taking place.

The race was won in routine fashion by reigning champions Rob Greenhalgh and Dan Johnson, sailing this time with Liam Murray on RMW Marine, from Andy Richards, Andrew Fairley and Dave Richards on Radii, with Ed Browne, Mark Tait and Lachlan Torrance third on Hermes.

The question of whether Computacenter's bold decision was correct was answered by a victory in the second race, ahead of RMW Marine and Hermes, but things did not work out quite so well for the Computacenter team in the third race, when they found themselves unable catch Hermes on a shortened course, with RMW Marine behind them in third place.

At the end of Day 1, RMW Marine leads from Hermes, with Radii in third place. Whether Computacenter's move pays off will remain to be seen when more races have been sailed and the discard kicks in.

Provisional results after 3 races:

1. RMW Marine Rob Greenhalgh, Dan Johnson and Liam Murray 6pts
2. Hermes Ed Browne, Mark Tait and Lachlan Torrance 7pts
3. Radii Andy Richards, Andrew Fairley and Dave Richards 14pts
4. Link Associates Tim Penfold, Matt Alvarado and Will Penfold 14pts
5. Computacenter Jon Bennett, Andy Jeffries and Nick Jerkins 16pts
6. Renewable Energy Charlie Tavner, Ed Clay and Jonanthan Finn 18pts
7. Base 1 Rob Dulson, Martin Goodlad and Alex McKinlay 18pts
8. Multimarine Dan Fellows, Neil Wiseman and Simon Baker 23pts
9. White Stuff Victor Brellisford, James Fawcett and Dave Smith 24pts
10. SP Systems Mike Hope, Justin Biddle and Sandy Wright 28pts
11. Onica Alister Kinsman, Alan Moss and Alasdair Hendry 32pts