Swallow Nationals at Itchenor Sailing Club
by Pauline Russell 9 Jul 2002 10:35 BST
The National Swallow Championship has been won for the second year running by S86, Migrant, sailed by Christopher Fox, James Leaver and Charles Fisher. Migrant won three of the four races outright and so was able to discard the fourth when they inexplicably failed to arrive on the line at the same time as the competition.
Hosted this year by Itchenor Sailling Club, the weather for the Championships tested the range of sailing ability - starting with a flat calm for the first race on Saturday morning, pleasant sun and a force 2 - 3 southwesterly in the afternoon only to be followed on Sunday by grey drizzle, winds gusting up to 27 knots and a very lumpy sea for the two races in Bracklesham Bay. The 20 boats on the start line on Saturday had diminished to 12 by the end of Sunday, largely falling casualty to the unpleasantness of the sea rather than any major damage.
The Swallows, whose heritage goes back to the 1948 Olympics, are now mainly associated with Itchenor although a small fleet races at Aldeburgh. Long recognised as being amongst the most exciting small keelboats to sail, with their graceful lines, low freeboard and quick response, are an established part of Cowes Week. The Swallow is a favourite of many top dinghy sailors. In such a distinguished class, it was encouraging to see the first two boats in the present Championships were piloted by young tyros from the Oxford & Cambridge Sailing Society.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Boat Name | Crew |
|---|
| 1 | S 86 | Migrant | C Fox, J Leaver, C Fisher |
| 2 | S 3 | Skua | A Massey, T Whittaker, M Irwin-Brown |
| 3 | S 81 | Goosander | N Pattison, N Upton, R Atkinson |
| 4 | S 67 | Solitude | A Lunch, A Reid, G Gent |
| 5 | S 74 | Archon | M Green, T Bridgewater, R Wright |