Simpson takes title

Report and final results from the Melges 24 Nationals in Torquay

It was down to the wire for the leaders of the WKD Melges 24 Nationals taking place in Torquay.

As the gun went signalling the start of the last race of the championships hosted by the Royal Torbay Yacht Club, there was just one point between leader Quentin Strauss on PIPC-Project Specialists and Stuart Simpson on Barbarians. A foul on the start line meant Strauss had to do a penalty turn just before the gun went, leaving him unable to find clean air for the first beat. And his misery continued as Simpson got the better of him on a port/starboard manoeuvre leaving him trailing down the fleet.

The fleet seemed to be pushing themselves to the limits on this last race of the regatta in order to get a higher position, with a couple of collisions at the windward mark, and several boats doing penalty turns.

At the end of the first round it was Allen Brown on The Dogs... who was out in front, followed by local sailor John Pollard on Xcellent and Simpson.

Brown managed to stay ahead for the next round, correctly reading the wind shifts, to take their first bullet of the championship. Second was Simpson, but a lost protest saw him disqualified from the race.

Earlier the day had followed the same pattern as the previous two, with very little wind and an overcast sky. A short postponement was called for by race officer Martin Wells-Brown but the fleet finally started their last day of racing with around four knots of breeze and the sun starting to make an appearance.

The fleet was led around the course by Simpson who ended the race with a huge lead. Pollard was closest but with the wind shifting was unable to close the gap. With Strauss breathing down his neck, Pollard managed to gybe inside of his rival as he approached the finish to take third by a whisker, with Paul Manning on Deep Blue in second. But another protest had been lodged and this time it was Strauss who was disqualified from the race.

Another postponement followed, but when the gun sounded for the second race the fleet behaved themselves and made a clean start. Another change in wind direction meant a change of course was needed after the first round as a close battle developed between Strauss and Simpson. Strauss managed to stay ahead of Simpson, with Pollard finishing the race in third place.

At the end of the championships, it was Simpson who took the trophy with Strauss second and Pollard third.

At a gala dinner and awards ceremony, The top Corinthian prize was awarded to Allen Brown on The Dogs... with Simon Henning on White Rabbit second and Norwegian competitor, Jens A Wathne third.

Top female helm was Ann Ashworth on Ali II, the Babies trophy was awarded to David Franks and his team on Wild Thing with a combined age of 99 years, while the Wrinklies trophy went to Ancilla Clark and her team on Fiver with a combined age of 215 years.

The John Merricks Trophy was awarded to Paul Manning and his team on Deep Blue. First RTYC boat was Ashworth, second was event sponsor Joe Woods on WKD and third was Clark. Top overseas boat was Brown, with Henning second and Wathne third.

Results

Pos	Boat	Owner	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R10	R11	R12	Tot
1	Barbarians	Stuart Simpson	Rob Smith	8	1	1	3	1	1	7	5	1	2	25	30
2	PIPC-Project Specialists	Quentin Strauss	Stu Rix	1	2	2	1	8	3	5	2	25	1	7	32
3	Xcellent	John & Kate Pollard	John Pollard	7	13	4	11	3	5	4	1	3	3	3	44
4	Deep Blue	Tim Tavinor	Richard Stenhouse	16	5	3	5	10	4	1	3	2	4	8	45
5	The Dogs………	Allen Brown	Allen Brown	4	3	5	4	7	8	9	11	25	9	1	61
6	White Rabbit	Simon Henning	Michael Hemming	6	16	7	2	2	6	14	14	4	8	5	68
7	Helmut Rises Again	Nigel Grogan	Nigel Grogan	10	9	9	9	5	24	3	4	7	12	21	89
8	Party Girl	Jens A Wathne	Jens A Wathne	5	8	11	19	12	15	11	10	18	5	2	97
9	Easy Tiger	Tim Collins	Tim Collins	9	20	8	15	11	11	8	13	20	7	4	106
10	Ali 2	Ann Ashworth	Ann Ashworth	21	19	6	7	4	10	20	12	13	11	6	108
11	Envy	Simon May	Dean Argeant	15	21	12	6	9	13	2	9	12	24	16	115
12	The Badger	Paul Lovejoy	Paul Lovejoy	3	11	14	10	16	2	22	16	15	18	13	118
13	WKD Blue	Joe Woods	Joe Woods	13	22	10	8	6	12	13	17	9	23	18	128
14	Fiver	Ancilla Clark	Robert Llewellyn	14	15	18	13	22	21	17	8	6	6	12	130
15	Hooligan	Norman Broom	Norman Broom	2	12	19	17	20	14	15	19	10	15	20	143
16	Wild Thing	David Franks	David Franks	12	14	23	12	13	18	23	7	5	22	17	143
17	UK Panasonic	Adrian Peach	Adrian Peach	17	7	21	20	17	20	16	25	8	10	9	145
18	Comfortably Numb	Andrew Dellow	Simon Dobson	20	10	24	16	18	9	12	25	14	19	10	152
19	Certifiable	Ian Watts	Ian Watts	11	4	22	21	19	7	24	6	21	21	23	155
20	The Bees…….	D. Myatt/P. Treliving	David Myatt	19	6	17	22	15	17	6	15	22	20	19	156
21	Henri Lloyd	Tony Jaffa	Tony Jaffa	18	18	13	14	14	22	21	25	17	14	11	162
22	Moist and Wet	Simon Benest/Sean Fellows	Simon Benest	23	17	20	24	21	16	19	25	11	17	15	183
23	Ramshackle	Steve Williams/Dave Farrimond	Dave Farrimond	24	23	16	18	24	19	18	25	16	13	14	185
24	Formulacars.co.uk	Tim Jones	Tim Jones	22	24	15	23	23	23	10	18	19	16	22	191