Musto Skiff GBR EuroCup Leg 1 at Stokes Bay Sailing Club
by Mike Palfreman 21 Apr 2016 13:07 BST
16-17 April 2016
Musto Skiff GBR EuroCup Leg 1 at Stokes Bay © Tim Olin /
www.olinphoto.co.uk
Shared with the 4000s, RS800s and B14s, 32 Musto Skiffs boats entered the Stokes Bay open making a fantastic total of almost 80 boats across all four fleets. It was difficult to put your finger on what the conditions were exactly on Saturday but it was something along the lines of a shifty North Westerly 5-12 knots offshore.
The first race pretty much set the scene for the weekend with ex and current world champions Dan Henderson and Bruce Keen getting a 1,2 and George Hand taking 3rd. The wind dropped slightly in the second race and for once the champions were absent. Ed Wilkinson and Andy Tarboten picked their way carefully up the first beat to lead at the windward mark before Mike Palfreman sailed through downwind an then away to a comfortable win in spite of an absent minded capsize with everyones favourite Norweigian Jamie Hilton in 2nd. Dan Kilsby came through for a steady 3rd with the champs languishing in 4th and 5th, possibly distracted by their imminent committee boat based handbag swap at the start of the 3rd and 4th races which saw two bullets for Dan and two seconds for Bruce.
In between races 3 and 4 however was Saturday night which comprised a fantastic curry from the Stokes Bay galley and another memorable Dan Vincent quiz. Some things live long in the memory and some things get forgotten... but sadly it is not possible to unsee things, such as Jamie Hilton's Freddie Mercury impersonation.
Back to the 4th race and relative newcomer (Musto Skiff owner for about 6 /7 weeks) Andy Tarboten added a very concerning for the rest of the fleet, at least given his short time in the boat, 3rd to an already consistent scoreline to steadily climb the leaderboard. Josh Belben, another newbie (and a young, lightweight one at that) also had his best race of his first open with a 7th.
With Bruce and Dan taking a 2,4 in the 5th race they were now the only two sailors who could win the open. Ben Schooling chose this moment to give the fleet a lesson in shifty sailing skills winning by a country mile and Andy looking ever more threatening with another 3rd.
The wind showed no sign of settling down for the 6th and final race and as a result no one quite knew what was going on tactics wise. In the event Dan won final race and open, Richard Pelley and Ed Wilkinson getting their best results with a 2nd and 4th respectively finishing either side of Mike in 3rd.
Big thanks to Musto for the excellent prizes and to SBSC for hosting the event.
Overall Results:
Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Nt Pts |
1 | 542 | Dan Henderson | Stokes Bay SC | 2 | ‑5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 9 |
2 | 534 | Bruce Keen | Stokes Bay SC | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑6 | 11 |
3 | 545 | Mike Palfreman | Stokes Bay SC | 4 | 1 | 4 | ‑12 | 9 | 3 | 21 |
4 | 487 | Ben Schooling | Stokes Bay SC | 5 | ‑11 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 24 |
5 | 295 | Andy Tarboton | HMYC | 7 | ‑8 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 27 |
6 | 302 | Dan Kilsby | Stokes Bay SC | 6 | 3 | 7 | ‑13 | 5 | 7 | 28 |
7 | 520 | Dave Poston | Datchet Water SC | (OCS) | 6 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 10 | 38 |
8 | 469 | Richard Pelley | Stokes Bay SC | 10 | ‑12 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 42 |
9 | 444 | Jamie Hilton | Datchet Water SC | 13 | 2 | 10 | 4 | ‑16 | 14 | 43 |
10 | 354 | George Hand | Stokes Bay SC | 3 | ‑19 | 9 | 17 | 7 | 9 | 45 |
11 | 499 | Tom Wright | Lymington Town SC | 8 | 7 | 5 | 21 | 12 | ‑23 | 53 |
12 | 113 | Ed Wilkinson | Stokes Bay SC | 17 | ‑20 | 15 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 54 |
13 | 97 | Gavin Brewer | Stokes Bay SC | 20 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 6 | ‑24 | 64 |
14 | 260 | Mark Cooper | Datchet Water SC | 18 | 10 | 20 | 9 | ‑24 | 13 | 70 |
15 | 531 | Andrew Gould | Stokes Bay SC | ‑22 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 70 |
16 | 375 | Josh Belben | Stokes Bay SC | 19 | 13 | ‑23 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 76 |
17 | 419 | Richard Smith | Wilsonian SC | 14 | (DNC) | 18 | 14 | 19 | 11 | 76 |
18 | 482 | Matt Holden | Stokes Bay SC | 16 | ‑21 | 17 | 15 | 18 | 16 | 82 |
19 | 364 | Andy Rice | Stokes Bay SC | 11 | 16 | (DNC) | 18 | 22 | 17 | 84 |
20 | 315 | Jason Rickards | Datchet Water SC | 9 | ‑24 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 12 | 88 |
21 | 394 | Nigel Walbank | Lymington Town SC | ‑24 | 17 | 16 | 20 | 21 | 15 | 89 |
22 | 538 | Paul Molesworth | Stokes Bay SC | 15 | 23 | 22 | ‑24 | 11 | 19 | 90 |
23 | 535 | David Annan | Grafham Water SC | (DNF) | 22 | 12 | 22 | 20 | 25 | 101 |
24 | 284 | Jon Powell | Portchester SC | ‑25 | 15 | 24 | 19 | 25 | 20 | 103 |
25 | 456 | Serega Samus | Datchet Water SC | 21 | 25 | 19 | (DNC) | 17 | 21 | 103 |
26 | 250 | Nigel Dakin | Stokes Bay SC | 26 | ‑29 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 26 | 133 |
27 | 61 | Nicholas MacWhirter | Locks SC | 27 | 28 | 25 | 29 | 26 | ‑30 | 135 |
28 | 373 | Tom Gilbert | Datchet Water SC | (DNC) | 27 | DNC | 25 | 29 | 27 | 142 |
29 | 376 | David Rickard | Datchet Water SC | 23 | 18 | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | 143 |
30 | 265 | Luke South | Stokes Bay SC | 12 | (DNF) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 148 |
31 | 304 | Jamie Southwell | Hill Head SC | (DNC) | DNC | DNF | 26 | 27 | 28 | 149 |
32 | 181 | Troy Christenson | Datchet Water SC | (DNC) | DNF | DNC | 28 | 30 | 29 | 155 |
33 | 130 | Tim Carter | Stokes Bay SC | 28 | 26 | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | 156 |