K6 National Championships at Royal Torbay Yacht Club
by Dave Hall 16 Sep 2015 10:27 BST
11-13 September 2015
A slightly top heavy fleet made their way to the English Riviera over the long weekend of the 11th – 13th September.
After the close battle at Riva del Garda earlier in the year everyone was anticipating another close event. Those taking part were not disappointed. It was also going to be interesting to see how the boats with three on board would fair against a number of teams that had gone back to two.
Three days with the wind in a different direction – sometimes on the same day brought great racing and sailing. It did mean the excellent race team had their work cut out moving the windward mark many times.
The race team ran a superb series getting all 9 races in with only one delay while the course was re-set.
Neil Fulcher and Jim Hunt laid the gauntlet down on the first day in the lighter winds of the weekend with a 1,1,4 however Lawrence and Luca Crispin having been beaten in Garda were on a mission and put in a good days work with a 3,4,1.
Peter Kirkby with Richard Baker and Fran Gifford found another gear this weekend and had good speed upwind and down. At the end of the day Neil and Jim had a narrow lead over Lawrence and Luca with team Kirkby in third. Winners from 2 years ago David Hitchcock and Ian Nicholson had a safe day but the increase in competition meant they were having their work cut out.
The wind not only came from a different direction but had increased for day two and made from some exciting downwind legs. Neil and Jim continued their winning ways with 2 firsts while Lawrence and Luca slipped behind with a 6 and two 2s. The somewhat inconsistent team of Dave Hall, Christine & Graham Slater won the last race of the day with a nail biting photo finish.
The ever-consistent Team Kirkby still holding onto third place overall. A broken pole all but ended David and Ian's chance of a challenging for the title while Martin Wedge Scott Allen had put on a charge to close the gap on the leaders.
In spite of a dreadful forecast the final day ended up with sunshine and a brisk Easterly bringing with it a large swell. Lawrence and Luca put the hammer down and won the first two races of the day. It was down to the last race – could Neil and Jim win the race and keep Lawrence and Luca down the fleet. It was not to happen. Lawrence and Luca sailed into second place giving them the championship by one point.
A great long weekend with faultless organisation by the club and the race team.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Boat | Helm & Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 159 | BUBBLES ii | Lawrence & Luca Crispin | 3 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| 2 | 222 | | Neil Fulcher & Jim Hunt | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 13 |
| 3 | 216 | PIPPI | Peter Kirkby
Fran Gifford & Richard Baker | 4 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 23 |
| 4 | 208 | ERIC | Martin Wedge & Scot Allen | 9 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 28 |
| 5 | 155 | | David Hitchcock & Ian Nicholson | 2 | 2 | 6 | 14 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 32 |
| 6 | 228 | | Christian Diebitsch & Simon Lake | 6 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 33 |
| 7 | 220 | | David Hall
Christine & Graham Slater | 5 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 5 | 41 |
| 8 | 166 | | Fraser Elms
Georgie Smith & Tash Styles | 12 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 49 |
| 9 | 214 | AIRSHOCK 2 | Neil Davison & Andrew Yonge | 7 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 58 |
| 10 | 172 | RED SHANK | Michael Trueman
Martin Tibson & Stuart Pefen | 8 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 13 | 59 |
| 11 | 211 | BLACK IN BLACK | Simon Sydenham
Gavin Marshall Nick Deacon | 10 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 59 |
| 12 | 213 | GALLOPER | Nick Jones. Mike Butler & Peter Weller | 13 | 13 | 13 | 3 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 69 |
| 13 | 195 | MALARKY | J Rigby & Steve Bails | 11 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 84 |
| 14 | 142 | | Jeff Vanderborght
Sue Kennard Simon Bunn | 15 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 89 |