Last weekend Minnis Bay Sailing Club hosted the combined Spitfire and Shadow Nationals 2009.
A good turnout of 23 Spitfires and 13 Shadows took part in three days of excellent racing in force 3 – 5 winds, with very well run, fast turn around races. See separate Shadow report for their results.
A strong force 5 breeze greeted the competitors as they rigged for the first race of eight race series. There was very close racing within the spitfire fleet, with a separate start for the shadows. The round the ends rule applied throughout the event.
The first race was won by Crewsaver Chris Sproat & Georgina Burke, followed by Alex Farr & Marcelle Newbold, then Gary Smith & Lynn Whitmore. Many thought that Sproat / Burke would dominate the racing once again, but it was not to be. Henry White and his able crew Ed Redfern took the second race of the day, laying down their challenge for the rest of the event, followed once again by Farr / Newbold in second and guest helm and crew David White and Kyle Stoneham in third. The third race was also close, with a couple of individual recalls, but Smith / Whitmore took the bullet with Seb Greber & Nikki Boniface in second and White / Stoneham third.
By the end of racing day one Smith / Whitmore from Eastbourne were leading, joint points with Farr / Newbold, third and fourth also had the same points – Sproat / Burke and White / Stoneham respectively. There was still all to play for with no clear leader.
A good breeze today but with the wind direction switched 180 degrees, the wind was against the tide causing tricky conditions for the 16 foot Spitfire. Racing started in a steady force 4 gusting 5. With a number of general recalls and a few OCS members of the fleet were unexpectedly caught out once the results were posted after racing, and with only one discard, there was little room for mistakes. In the last race of the day 4 boats were OCS due to the strong tide, there were plenty of capsizes due to the short sharp chop also.
After day two Farr / Newbold were leading with White / Stoneham second and Greber / Boniface in third. It was still very tight at the top and with two races tomorrow left to decide the championship. Smith / Whitmore received two OCS’s today which had put them out of the running for the top three. Crewsaver Sproat / Burke were carrying an OCS and DNF and were also out of the running for the top spot.
Once again the competitors woke to a good force 3-4 breeze and the first race was complete before the tide turned to produce the wind against tide effect. With yesterdays OCS massacre teams were playing it safe with the starts to secure their positions.
Farr / Newbold had to finish better than fifth in race seven to win the title. After being first to the top mark and holding their position, on the last windward rounding a capsize saw them slip back to fifth place, but it was enough to win the event. Smith / Whitmore won race seven, showing their consistency throughout the regatta, White / Stoneham second, White / Redfern third. White / Redfern took the last race of the оголяющиеся their third place overall, with Farr / Newbold second, White / Stoneham third.
The three days saw very close racing and the single discard certainly made things interesting. It was good to have the youth teams attend the event, they all performed well in tricky conditions.
Overall Results:
Youth Results:
3rd Sebastien Samways & Daniel Channing, Pevensey Bay SC
Furthest travelled boat: Brian Murphy & Annette Ni Mhurchadha from Blessington, Ireland
Oldest combined crew: Peter Richardson & Fenella Miller (over 110 years old!)
Youngest combined crew: James Henson & Josh Potts (29 years combined!)
Most improved boat: David Vercoe & Carole Whitcher, Eastbourne Sovereign SC
‘Bloody Amateur’ trophy:
NDYC boats, presented to Steve Smith for putting his mast up backwards! Down the pan trophy: Gary Smith and Lynn Whitmore for falling from grace after being court over the line twice leaving their championship dreams in shatters. Donated to the Spitfire Class Association by Bill Partridge of the ex condor/4.9 class association. The tasteful brown Royal Doulton toilet bowl mounted on wooden floats is to be given to the sailor who came so close yet so far away from doing their best. The trophy originated in 1978 and was saved from a house being demolished by Dave Platts and presented as a prize. At some point the pan broke and a new one was donated by Royal Doulton of the Isle of Sheppey.
Many thanks once again to Minnis Bay Sailing Club and their excellent organisation, we look forward to returning next year.
Next Spitfire event – the Inland Championships at the Grafham Cat Open, October 24 – 25th.
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