18ft Skiff UK National Championship at Mount Batten Centre for Watersports - Overall
by Tom Hill on 14 Aug
11-13 August 2017
Two races were sailed on the final day of the UK 18ft Skiff Nationals on a glorious summer's day on Plymouth Sound. The fleet was held ashore for a short while to let the wind to establish into a good 5 to 8 knots on the course.
The first race was a close start, with LED leading the fleet in a drag race over to the cliffs. ChameleonI managed to bring back LED to lead through both laps and take yet another bullet on their already impressive scorecard. The two Rutland boats were scrapping just behind and frantically trying to work out the mathematics - given they started the day on the same amount of points!
Race two initiated another loud start line with skiffs racking up with a minute to go. This time, it was LED who managed to get to the top mark first, picking their way through the tidal gains and shifts. ChameleonI got close, but surrendered the pole position by the finish line to let LED take the final bullet of the series. AC Boatworks and Rutland were again locked in a tacking duel on the second upwind, that led to a tense final downwind leg and only a matter of seconds between the finishing times.
And so it was decided. ChameleonI's dominance led to them be crowned National Champions. The event was close with 4 boats getting first places throughout the weekend, but the consistency of ChamleonI shined through, giving them a comfortable margin on the rest of the fleet. The points gap further down the leaderboard was much closer, with the remaining podium places up for grabs by a number of boats, going into the final day.
The fleet would like to thank all that helped to make the event happen. Plymouth Youth Sailing pulled together an impressive series of races and were very accommodating of the small intricacies of skiff racing. Mount Batten Watersports centre provided all the perfect facilities needed for a National Championships. It's safe to say, the whole fleet loved their weekend's racing in Plymouth!
Overall Results:
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| Pos | Boat | Sail No | Helm | Middle | Bow | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | Chameleon 1 | 91 | Graham Bridle | Eddie Bridle | Ed Gibbons | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑2 | 1 | ‑2 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 2nd | LED Energy | 43 | Steve McLean | Scott Bonner | Ali York | 2 | 3 | 3 | (DNC) | ‑5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 |
| 3rd | AC Boatworks | 30 | Anthony Chapman | Josh Wilce | Matt Hollis | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑4 | ‑5 | 3 | 4 | 17 |
| 4th | Rutland | 118 | Tom Hill | Mark Kudlinski | Michael Andrew | | ‑4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 18 |
| 5th | Union Rose | 115 | Alex Lewin | Sam Curtis | George Weston | 4 | 5 | 5 | (DNC) | 3 | 1 | (DNC) | 5 | 23 |
| 6th | Sail 4 Cancer | 0 | Jon Bradbury | Elliot Pope | Jack Watkins | (DNC) | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 42 |
Next stop for the UK tour is the 3rd round at Marconi Sailing Club on the 9th and 10th September. For more information or to get in touch with the class, head over to uk18footer.org to find out more.