Swallow National Championships at Bembridge Sailing Club
by Harry Roome 17 Jul 2013 18:03 BST
13-14 July 2013
Gwaihir (S93) and Spectre (S91) on the final run during the Swallow nationals at Bembridge © Mike Samuelson
The Swallow championship was a glorious weekend of very close racing, on the hottest weekend of the year so far, with excellent racing and hospitality provided by Bembridge Sailing Club. Gradient winds were forecast light and variable all weekend and thankfully the hot sun provided sea breezes from the south east every day. The race officer said the watch words for the weekend were patience and optimism, and both were rewarded with steady if light winds.
Jonathan Peel, the race officer, got the fleet away for the first of three windward leeward races on Saturday after a short delay to let the wind fill in and settle. Solitude made the running, hotly pursued by Skua, the 2012 champion, but held on to win with Curlew coming through to take a close third place.
In the second race Gwaihir, with Mark Struckett at the helm, came off the pin end of the line and showed good speed, with Skua again giving chase and both held these positions to the finish. Spectre took third place, flying a smart new Ghost Busters spinnaker.
In the last race of the day Archon converted last place at the third mark to first by the leeward mark, taking the fast route offshore and although losing places on subsequent beats fought back fiercely to win. Migrant had found a good shift inshore on the second beat but was overhauled by Gwaihir who finished second.
Overnight positions were tight with Gwaihir leading on equal points from Skua, with Solitude and Archon each with two good results. Everything to play for.
Sunday's first race saw the fleet split into two groups up the first beat; the inshore group picked up a 25 degree shift and maintained their gap to the end, with Migrant winning from Curlew, Gwaihir and Solitude. This left Gwaihir just two points ahead, but with Skua and Solitude still in with a good chance.
In the final and deciding race Spectre lead the fleet inshore on the first beat of the final race and opened up a good lead. Gwaihir worked through to second place and put a careful cover on her nearest rivals; Spectre failed to cover and Gwaihir went through to take the win and the Championship. In the final few metres of the race Solitude inched ahead of Skua and Curlew by finding the favoured end of the finishing line to take second overall.
Overall the Championship had four different race winners – racing was very close all weekend. Bembridge SC laid on an excellent event with good courses and the fleet was extremely well looked after ashore, with a barbeque on Friday evening and the Championship Dinner.
Overall Results:
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1st Gwaihir (Mark Struckett; Charles Hyatt; Mike Wigmore)
2nd Solitude (Anthony Lunch; Andrew Reid; Chris David)
3rd Skua (Harry & Prue Roome; Nigel Glennie)
4th Curlew (Simon Slater; Oliver Gilchrist; Christine Graves)
5th Spectre (Clive Bush; Roger Yeoman; Paul Patenell)