Marblehead National Championships at Weecher Reservoir, Keighley
by UK M Class 19 May 2014 12:27 BST
17-18 May 2014
Marblehead Nationals at Keighley © Damian Ackroyd
Gibson retains title for third year
The UK Marblehead class championship was held over the 17th – 18th of May on the picturesque Weecher Reservoir site near Keighley. 33 competitors arrived for Day 1 where an oscillating S-SW wind gusting to 12 knots made rig selection of B or C most important for the duration. Racing throughout the fleet was intense with no less than 6 past and present radio yachting world champions in attendance, along with international competitors from France and Germany.
At the completion of Day 1 after 8 full rounds of A and B heats, it was current World Champion Brad Gibson leading by the narrowest of margins on 9 points from Peter Stollery on 10.7pts, with recently crowned French National champion Graham Bantock in 3rd on 19 points. The top 5 places showed five differing designs reflecting skipper ability of holding a clear lane out of the start with the freedom to tack on the first shift as the most important factor in the days results.
Skippers found the conditions challenging throughout the day with upwind crossings at speed and distance difficult at times to judge on the windward leeward course sailed directly away from the control area. Protest chairman David Hollom was called into action on several occasions but in general the quality of racing and rule adherence in the conditions was of a high standard and skippers took penalty turns accordingly.
Skippers retired to the Ilkley Moor Vaults for a fantastic meal orchestrated by our Keighley hosts, where GBR skippers travelling to the upcoming Worlds in Gouda were presented with their racing hoodies.
Day 2 dawned with the prospect of freshening winds from the South providing PRO John Tushingham with the opportunity of setting a course allowing skippers to walk its length. Once again B or C rigs were the choice amongst skippers and racing got under way at 9.30 am. With a long first beat to a windward mark with a spreader, where skippers could more easily see their machines. Boatspeed and an ability to work the left-right oscillations became the key to success. To that end it was Gibson and IOM World Champion Robert Walsh who laid down a marker in Race 9 with a tight 1-2 finish. As the day progressed there was movement up and down the fleet where skippers enjoyed the fast racing on flat water, pushing their boats to the limit.
Gibson continued his winning form over the day, only dropping one race to Stollery from 8 races sailed, to go on and take the championship in fine form. Stollery, after a couple of earlier hiccups by his own standards, settled down to push Gibson hard for his win with improved speed, benefiting from a recent fin upgrade and some fast downwind sailing. Robert Walsh also had a consistent day to get through ahead of Graham Bantock and take a well deserved 3rd place.
Throughout the fleet there were some big movers on day 2, none more so than Tony Gurrier who came through to take 5th place and GBR Finn skipper David Potter who jumped from 13th overnight up to 7th place, clearly enjoying the open course conditions.
Of the visitors German skipper Nigel Winkley had a solid event once again to take 6th place and French skipper Nicholas Selves did well with some very good races to finish in 8th place.
Competitors thanked the Keighley race and catering team led by PRO John Tushingham for hosting an event in warm sunshine and good winds which showed off Marblehead class racing at its best.
Overall Results: (full results and a list of designs can be found here)
If you finished in the top ten at the Marblehead nationals then enter your Gear Guide information here
1st Brad Gibson, Grunge, 14pts
2nd Peter Stollery, Crazy Tube Free, 31.7pts
3rd Robert Walsh, Starkers Squared, 44pts
4th Graham Bantock, Quark, 48pts
5th Tony Guerrier, Quark, 93pts
6th Nigel Winkley, Skalpel GER, 101pts
7th David Potter, Crème Cracker, 104pts
8th Nicholas Selves, Quark FRA, 120pts
9th Derek Priestley, Starkers Cubed, 130pts
10th Darin Ballington, Rok, 137.4pts
More pictures by Damian Ackroyd here
Attention now moves on to GBR skipper final preparations for the Magic Marine July Worlds in Gouda, Netherlands.
For all UK Marblehead news go to the class website at marbleheadsailing.wordpress.com or follow us on Twitter at @MarbleheadUK.