Noble Marine Supernova Travellers' Series 2015

Noble Marine Supernova Travellers' Series 2015 © Caz Hand

Noble Marine Supernova Travellers' Series 2015 © Caz Hand

Noble Marine Supernova Travellers' Series 2015 © Caz Hand

The Xmas Pud social event signalled the end of the season for the Supernova class and with it, the end of the Travellers' Series.

Noble Marine kindly sponsored the series again in 2015 and, in all, 115 sailors took part in the series with 45 races sailed throughout the year. 2015 was another year of growth for the class with already 120 boats confirmed for the 2016 nationals and this growth was evident in the travellers series as 30+ were becoming a regular occurrence at clubs.

There were 6 different winners this year with some events coming right down to the last few metres which definitely showed how competitive the racing has been this year. The winners and event wins are listed below:

• Alex Collins (Bolton) - 6 Open wins (Bowmoor, Bolton, Attenborough, Carsington, Hunts, Bala)
• Tim Hand (Sutton In Ashfield) 3 Open wins (Girton, Scammondon, Swarkestone)
• Gavin Young (Cotswold) 1 Open win (Haversham)
• Cliff Milliner (Cotwsold) 1 Open win (Exe)
• Mike Gibson (Bartley) 1 Open win (Bartley)
• Alan Bishop (Girton) 1 Open win (Glossop)

For the first time, Alex Collins was crowned the Travellers champion ahead of Tim Hand in 2nd and ex-Chairman and the travellers trophy winner the 3 previous years, Paul Earnshaw (Haversham).

Paul Undrell of Haversham showed dedication after being awarded the "Travellers traveller" trophy for taking part in the most events. Paul also is a key part of the committee where he handles the results and race programme so a big thanks must go to him for his help organising the event calendar and making sure the results are correct and widely available on the class website.

Full results from the year and more information on the class can be found at www.supernovadinghy.org

Thank you again to Noble Marine whose sponsorship enable us to run this travellers series and help us continue to grow and expand to visit more clubs.

A big thanks must also go to all the Clubs, Race Officers, Galley staff, Safety boat crews and all the volunteers who have contributed to the travellers series, your help is much appreciated and means that events can generally run smoothly.

Unfortunately we had 3 opens cancelled this year due to conditions so although no racing took place, Thank you to Cotswold Sailing Club, Sutton-In- Ashfield sailing club and Coombs Sailing club for organising and getting volunteers to help for these days.

Looking ahead to 2016

Well we have 120 boats confirmed for the nationals, New faces and new boats appearing all the time, Continued growth online, Fantastic sponsors coming onboard, 16 travellers trophy events (23 events overall including 2 training days) and generally a lot of good sailing and socialising to look forward to!