Grey skies and rain

The RS K6 class had some variable breezes for their National Championship at Plymouth

The grey skies and forecast rain had several in the K6 fleet checking the cinema listings for ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ before the briefing for the fifth GUL K6 National Championship, hosted by the Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club. Once out beyond the breakwater in the solid breeze and big rollers, thoughts of magic chocolate were quickly replaced by the real magic of stable 15 knot blasts downwind and close tactical upwind legs.

Race Officer Russell Gibbs and team laid degree perfect starts, giving the fleet the full line to choose from and good clear channels for the first beat. There was collective surprise at the top of the first beat when the fleet converged almost en-mass - the racing has been getting closer all season and Plymouth was going to set new standards. David Hitchcock and Ian Nicholson set the early pace, chased hard by the dynamic duo of Scoobydoo (ex 505 world champion Bill Masterman crewed by Dan Mountfield) and Shaggy (ex Fireball world champs Mark Darling and John Ironmonger). David and Ian managed to escape and took the first race. In the second race it was the turn of Myles Mence, Glyn Locke and Judith French in their well dressed ‘Italian’ boat Artigiano to take-up the chase. Artigiano looked good for a win but the prospect of two bullets on the first day was too tempting for David and Ian, and they clinched another win on the last leg.

Day two dawned grey again, but with more breeze, the rollers were going to be extra fun today. Ian and David were the first to spot that these rollers were particularly impressive down the right hand side of the course and used these to good effect to claim a third bullet in a row. Could they achieve a clean sweep in the same way they had at the first open meeting of the season? The answer was no. In a very congested first beat in the next race they got caught in the traffic, with Jonathan Calascione, Pyers Tucker and Libby Deegan ( Take Two) breaking clear and denying the clean sweep.

The final race of the day was ‘round the cans’ back to the Mountbatten Centre with a couple of spectacular three sail reaches to keep the two photographers and spectators happy. The round the cans always has the potential to really mix-up the performance order, and John and Carol Dutton with David ‘the foghorn’ Peerless proved the point by swapping their mid-fleet performance for a third. The fleet then convened at the bar for a video debrief from Ian Pinnel who gave even the most experienced a good list of things to think about and work on.

The weather gods obviously decided the fleet needed a break and denied Plymouth Sound even the odd zephyr on day three. After working through the Pinnel inspired to-do lists, the local pubs and National Aquarium did brisk business. The Fat Face circuit and Cowes Week prize giving dinner was held at the Royal Plymouth Corinthian, with Martin Miller winning the prize for the most air miles collected on the K6 circuit, and Charles Sheldon and crew clinching the 118 118 look-a-like title.

A gentle north-easterly breeze arrived for the final day – a direction Jim Saltonstall describes as “‘oribble, keep your eyes out of the boat” for Plymouth. There seemed some logic then when it looked like the first race would go to Queen Mary pond sailors Peter Kirkby and Richard Barker ( Pippi). However, they missed the last shift and David Hitchcock and Ian Nicholson recorded their fifth win and the overall championship in convincing style. The final two races were cancelled as the weather gods again sucked the wind out of the sound.

Results:

Pos	Sail Number	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Tot
1	155	David Hitchcock	Ian Nicholson	Hayling Island SC	1	1	1	5	1	1	5
2	160	Myles Mence	Glyn Locke, Judith French	Royal Solent YC	5	2	2	4	2	3	13
3	101	Bill Masterman	Dan Mountfield	Hayling Island SC	2	5	3	2	5	5	17
4	148	Mark Darling	John Ironmonger	Hayling Island SC	3	6	6	3	11	4	22
5	126	Peter Kirkby	Richard Barker	Queen Mary SC	6	3	5	7	8	2	23
6	102	Marin Wadhams	Amanda Wadhams, Claire Upton- Brown	Lyminghton Town SC	4	7	4	11	4	6	25
7	156	Jonathan Calascione	Pyers Tucker, Libby Deegan	Queen Mary SC	7	4	7	1	7	13	26
8	152	Jon Dutton	Carol Dutton, David Peerless	Lyminghton Town SC	13	18	12	8	3	7	43
9	108	Neil Austen	Giles CHipperfield	Mayflower SC	12	10	9	9	6	10	44
10	124	Fraser Elms	Georgie Smith, Tash Styles	Hayling Island SC	9	14	8	15	9	15	55
11	135	Philip Waterfall	Phil Cox	Carsington SC	15	8	13	14	13	9	57
12	154	Paul Young	Heather Chipperfield	Hayling Island SC	8	9	OCS	6	19	16	58
13	145	Gareth Watkins	Ian Schenkel	Queen Mary SC	17	17	10	12	15	8	62
14	106	Patrick Seely	Robin Bromley-Martin, Jean Calliau	Royal Solent YC	14	11	18	10	17	11	63
15	142	Martin Miller	John Techno	Isle of Man SC	10	13	14	17	14	14	65
16	165	Charles Sheldon	Janie Garrett, Jonny Raggett		20	12	16	13	10	DNS	71
17	157	Roger Saynor	Grahame Forshaw	RNSA	11	15	11	18	18	DNC	73
18	166	Jamie Sheldon	Susie Sheldon, Mike McMillan	Royal Solent YC	16	19	17	19	12	12	76
19	119	Terry Wilkinson	Owain Franks	Queen Mary SC	19	16	15	16	16	17	80
20	140	Michael Dawson	Andrew Lister	Royal Lyminghton YC	18	OCS	19	20	20	DNC	98