2000 National Championship at East Lothian Yacht Club - Day 4
by Chris Jordan 10 Aug 2017 23:18 BST
6-11 August 2017
Wednesday is a traditional lay day at the 2000 National Championships, and the wind that day was very similar to the day before - light and tricky. But Thursday, the fourth day of racing, produced yet another weather change. Still sunny, with a strong westerly wind of 18-25 knots, and with the wind against tide, there were some awkward waves and a big sea at East Lothian Yacht Club.
Simon Horsfield and Jess Hunter (Army Sailing Association) were in their element and revelling in the conditions. They turned the speed up to maximum downwind (after the race, their GPS showed a speed of 16.6 knots, in a 2000!), ending up over 400 yards ahead by the end of the race. Steve and Sarah Cockerill (Stokes Bay Sailing Club) took second, with Stuart Willims and Emily Towersey Veal (Army Sailing Association) also showing their fitness and speed in third.
The second race of the day saw much closer racing: upwind Steve and Sarah Cockerill turned on the power, while down wind Simon and Jess were the faster. The two leaders rounded the windward mark overlapped for the last two laps - but Simon and Jess's speed downwind allowed them to take the win. Matt and Johnny Sargent (Johnny's 10th birthday today!) were slowly pulling up through the fleet, by ensuring they were sailing flat despite their light weight, and finished third.
With the wind blowing 21-24 knots, it was a close call as to whether to hold a third race - but the sun was still shining and the fleet had to beat back a long way anyway. Steve and Sarah Cockerill had sorted out their downwind speed issues, and led all the way around.
Simon and Jess had to recover from a poorer start, but still pulled through to second. The next group of boats were having very close racing around the course, with lots of close calls at the marks as boats closed in at speed. Iain and Sarah Yardley (Silver Wing Sailing Club) managed to be in the right place at the right time, taking third place from Helen and Andrew Phillips (Cardiff Bay Yacht Club) by six inches at the finish.
With nine of the ten races completed, that might be it for the week, as the final day's forecast is for an extra 8 to 10 knots on top of todays wind.
More information on the East Lothian Yacht Club website here.
Results after day 4:
Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | Pts |
1st | 2035 | Steve Cockerill | Sarah Cockerill | Stokes Bay Sailing Club | ‑3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑2 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
2nd | 22334 | Simon Horsfield | Jess Hunter | Army Sailing association | 1 | 2 | ‑7 | ‑5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 13 |
3rd | 2355 | Matt Sargent | Gwen / Johnny Sargent | Army Sailing association | 4 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 2 | ‑9 | 3 | (DNF) | 27 |
4th | 2374 | Richard Hudson | Ian Hudson | Bough Beech Sailing Club | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | ‑7 | 3 | 5 | ‑13 | 6 | 28 |
5th | 22619 | Kev O'Brien | Jake O'Brien | RAF Sailing Association | 5 | ‑8 | ‑8 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 35 |
6th | 2204 | Iain Yardley | Sarah Yardley | SWSC | ‑9 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 8 | ‑10 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 42 |
7th | 22362 | Stuart Williams | Emily Towersey Veal | Army Sailing association | 6 | 5 | ‑13 | 7 | 10 | ‑11 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 45 |
8th | 22564 | Helen Phillips | Andrew Phillips | Cardiff Bay Yacht Club | ‑13 | 13 | ‑14 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 53 |
9th | 22607 | Christopher Jordan | Gillian Jordan | Burghfield Sailing Club | 8 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 8 | (DNC) | (DNC) | DNC | 58 |
10th | 22156 | Dan Rule | Cat Rule | Carsington Sailing Club | 7 | 9 | 10 | ‑14 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 12 | ‑13 | 62 |
11th | 22058 | Kevan Gibb | Lynne Gibb | Largo Bay Sailing Club | 10 | ‑20 | 3 | 10 | 12 | ‑17 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 67 |
12th | 21332 | Mark Burnell | Pete Mileham | East Lothian Yacht Club | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | ‑15 | ‑13 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 73 |
13th | 2272 | James MacGregor | Lucy Robson | Ullswater Yacht Club | 14 | ‑17 | 5 | 15 | 11 | 9 | 13 | 14 | (DNC) | 81 |
14th | 21780 | Jane Robertson | Lucy Robertson | East Lothian Yacht Club | 11 | 12 | ‑15 | 13 | 13 | ‑15 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 84 |
15th | 21408 | Calum Gibb | Andrew Grier | Largo Bay Sailing Club | ‑16 | 15 | ‑16 | 11 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 10 | 8 | 86 |
16th | 21072 | Trevor Bradley | Malcolm Kaye | Thornton Stewart Sailing Club | 18 | 10 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 8 | (DNC) | (DNC) | 105 |
17th | 2086 | George Thomson | Ellen Clark | West Lothian Sailing Club | (DNC) | (DNC) | 17 | 17 | 19 | 14 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 109 |
18th | 22501 | Hugo Blanshard | Colin Walsh | Army Sailing association | 17 | 16 | ‑20 | ‑19 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 14 | 112 |
19th | 2248 | John Best | Sophie Harris | Lee on the Solent Sailing Club | 15 | 14 | 11 | 18 | 18 | 19 | (DNC) | (DNC) | DNC | 119 |
20th | 21869 | Steve Fraser | Deb De Crausaz | East Lothian Yacht Club | 20 | ‑21 | ‑21 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 132 |
21st | 22302 | Thomas Walsh | Huw Child | Army Sailing association | 21 | 19 | ‑22 | ‑22 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 16 | DNF | 136 |
22nd | 2050 | Brian Cameron | Mike Smith | East Lothian Yacht Club | 19 | 18 | 19 | 20 | (DNF) | (DNC) | DNF | DNC | 15 | 137 |
23rd | 22056 | Simon Turner | Kevin Brown | Catterick Garrison Sailing Club | 22 | DNF | (DNF) | (DNC) | 22 | 22 | DNF | DNF | DNC | 155 |