Windsport Catparts Sprint 15 TT at Grafham Water Sailing Club

by Bob Carter 24 Oct 2012 14:38 BST 20-21 October 2012

The last regatta of the Windsport Catparts Sprint 15 Summer traveller series was held at Grafham Water Sailing Club on the weekend of 20-21 October, which was also the Inland Championships. There were 33 entries which comprised 6 from the home club and 27 travellers. This made the Sprint 15 fleet more than half the entries at the Grafham Invitation Cat Open.

The Sprint 15s and the medium handicap fleet sailed a rectangular course with tight reaches while the fast single-handed catamarans sailed a windward-leeward course with separate and more distant windward and leeward marks. On the Saturday the wind was a light Southerly breeze and the race officer, Peter Saxton, got the proceedings off on time.

The Isle of Wight traveller, Simon Giles, was the first to the windward mark followed by Thomas Sandal, Stuart Snell and Simon Miles. The fleet quickly spread out in the light breeze but Snell and Robin Boardman made no mistakes and made progress on the second beat. The race was shortened to 2 laps, but at the gun the race team were unable to separate Giles and Snell and so it was deemed a tie. Boardman was third and Sandal was an unlucky 4th as he lost his tiller on the second lap whilst in the lead and dropped several places as a result.

In the second race Snell made no mistakes and led from start to finish. Boardman, sailing a boat he had just bought that morning, was clear second from the Thorpe Bay sailors of Steve Healy and Howard Hawkes who were third and forth.

The third race got away after another course adjustment to the east. Snell got a bad start and Boardman capitalized by stretching out a good lead. By the second lap the wind was dropping and the proceedings were slow. Boardman held on to take the gun from Giles, Miles and Snell who had recoveded from 17th at the first mark. Events Secretary, Erling Holmberg showed his consistency by recording his third consecutive fifth place. As soon as the third race had finished the wind completely died so the fleet returned to the bar grateful to have got 3 races in – especially considering the poor forecast.

On Sunday the wind had picked up to the delight of the fleet and was now from the North, by way of a change. Boardman picked up where he had finished and opened out a big lead on the first lap from the chasing pack. Snell closed up on the second lap but was unable to catch him so Boardman won from Snell and Sandal, but now that the breeze had freshened, a new group were putting the leaders under pressure. This included Neil Parkhurst, Simon Farthing, Kevin Dutch and Kevin Kirby who were 4th to 7th respectively.

To prove the point N Parkhurst went straight into the lead of the fifth race with last year's champion Kevin Dutch in hot pursuit. On the beat Snell passed Dutch by pointing high but N Parkhurst maintained his nerve and the lead. George Love made big gains as he began to master sailing without the jib, which is his usual format. N Parkhurst took the gun at the end of the second lap from Snell, Dutch, Boardman and Paul Craft who was also enjoying the fresher breeze.

After 5 races just half a point separated the leaders of Snell and Boardman. Once again a huge wind shift caused the course to be adjusted 45 degrees to the East for the final race. Sandal got an excellent start and rounded the windward mark first ahead of Craft and Snell. Craft squeezed by to take the lead on the run from Sandal and the usuals but Jon Finch was having a much better race moving up to fifth place. Snell took the lead on the second lap and held on to the finish after 3 laps from Sandal, Boardman and Craft.

Thus Snell secured the Sprint 15 Inland Championships to add to his National Championship and Northern Championship crowns. The fleet went away happy after a weekend of slick race management that resulted in all 6 races being completed with minimal delays between successive races despite large wind changes.

This event concluded the Summer Traveller series but the Winter Traveller Series kicks off at Stewartby on 3 November.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1st	1982	Stuart Snell	GWSC	1.5	1	‑4	2	2	1	7.5
2nd	1953	Robin Boardman	Halifax SC	3	2	1	1	‑4	3	10
3rd	1957	Thomas Sandal	GWSC	4	(DNS)	8	3	6	2	23
4th	1761	Neil Parkhurst	Beaver SC	6	11	‑19	4	1	5	27
5th	2007	Erling Holmberg	Shanklin	5	5	5	12	‑28	13	40
6th	1938	Kevin Dutch	Seasalter SC	16	8	‑23	6	3	8	41
7th	1944	Simon Giles	Shanklin Sailing Club	1.5	17	2	‑24	11	11	42.5
8th	1827	Simon Miles	Stewartby SC	8	13	3	9	‑20	10	43
9th	1391	Steve Healy	Thorpe Bay Yacht Club	10	3	6	14	14	‑18	47
10th	1898	Simon Farthing	GWSC	11	‑23	9	5	9	16	50
11th	1643	Howard Hawkes	Thorpe Bay SC	7	4	11	15	‑18	15	52
12th	1267	Paul Craft	ODC	‑24	10	17	22	5	4	58
13th	2005	Chris Black	GWSC	15	6	16	10	‑25	12	59
14th	1890	Jon Finch	Stewartby	‑28	19	7	21	12	6	65
15th	2006	Nick Dewhirst	Whitstable	12	12	14	19	10	‑21	67
16th	1715	Roger Ackroyd	Witham Sailing Club	13	20	12	8	‑23	17	70
17th	1825	George Love	Carsington	22	18	‑29	13	7	14	74
18th	1871	Gary Burrows	Thorpe Bay Yacht Club	18	7	15	18	21	‑26	79
19th	1714	D Groom	Netley	9	21	13	‑28	17	19	79
20th	1983	Pete Richardson	Marconi Sailing Club	14	9	10	(DNC)	16	DNC	83
21st	1293	Ian Parkhurst	Beaver SC	19	‑26	18	11	13	22	83
22nd	1966	Kevin Kirby	Marconi Sailing Club	25	25	‑28	7	19	9	85
23rd	1928	Robert Beevers	Beaver Sailing Club	‑31	27	30	16	8	7	88
24th	1955	John Manning	Beaver SC	17	14	20	‑27	24	24	99
25th	1908	George Wood	Stewartby	26	24	‑27	23	15	20	108
26th	1838	Robert Finch	Stewartby	23	15	22	25	27	(DNC)	112
27th	1289	Andy Bunyan	Stewartby	21	16	25	‑31	30	30	122
28th	554	Liam Thom	Shanklin Sailing Club	32	(DNC)	21	17	26	27	123
29th	1755	Rob Bailey	Thorpe Bay Yacht Club	27	22	24	26	‑29	25	124
30th	1522	A. Clarke	GWSC	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	20	22	23	133
31st	1970	Simon Hare	Oxford SC	20	28	26	‑32	31	29	134
32nd	1475	Penny Williamson	GWSC	29	29	‑32	30	32	28	148
33rd	1339	Jon Pearse	Marconi Sailing Club	30	30	31	29	‑33	31	151