Perry retains title

At Prima 38 Nationals in Plymouth

The Royal Western YC was host to the 2003 Prima One-Design Inshore National Championship. A small but extremely competitive fleet of 8 boats took part in the event over the August Bank holiday weekend (23rd-25th).

The event was made up of a series of 7 races - 5 windward-leeward courses and 2 round the can races.

The defending champions, John Perry's Firestorm, set off to a good start on day one after a late start due to light conditions. The breeze eventually filled in from the southwest and the first windward-leeward course produced a close finish with Firestorm leading, followed by Don Kennedy's Oz Privateer in second and local boat, Bare Knuckles, owned by Bob Gateshill, in third.

The next race took the fleet around the cans. After an exciting start, with most of the boats vying for the committee boat end, Firestorm got away with Longbow and finished first and second respectively with Bare Knuckles in third.

After a good social evening at the club plus a few nightcaps around Plymouth, the boats were rearing to go on day two.

A series of three windward-leeward courses were on offer. As with the first day, the winds were light and filled in late morning from the southwest. The day produced a variety of results and a number of protests!!! Firestorm won the first race with Longbow and Bare Knuckles getting bullets in races 4 and 5 respectively. At the end of day 2 though the mid-fleet results made for interesting reading with Oz Privateer lying third with Longbow and Serendip following closely in 4th and 5th place.

Monday's weather brought a good 15+ knots of breeze from the east and set the pace for the final day's racing. Bare Knuckles won race 7 but it was Firestorm with her fourth bullet of the weekend in race 6 that allowed her to successfully defend her title and become the Inshore National Champion for another year.

Results

1. Firestorm, John Perry, 8pts
2 Bare Knuckles, Robert Gateshill, 11.5pts
3 Longbow, Army Sailing Assocation (skippered by Stuart Smith), 19.75pts
4th Serendip, Paul King, 25pts
5th Oz Privateer, Don Kennedy, 27pts
6th White Knuckles II, Andy Williams, 30pts
7th Gusto IV, Andy Hinton-Lever, 32pts
8th White Knuckles I, Mervyn Hughes, 39pts.