Squib Nationals at the Royal Norfolk & Suffolk Yacht Club

by David West 30 Jun 2008 16:22 BST 21-27 June 2008

Take a week from 21 to 27 June. Add force 4-6 winds. Mix in constant sunshine. Stir well with the right sized waves and a tide to make things interesting. Finally, sprinkle with a lady race officer who really knows her onions and you have a recipe for unalloyed delight - hiking hard upwind, speedboating downwind, sparkling silver spray and glowing golden sails.

A mere 7 days after 45 Squibs contested the 40th Anniversary Regatta at the Royal Corinthian in Burnham, 61 Squibs entered The Working Manager 40th Anniversary National Squib Championship at the Royal Norfolk & Suffolk YC. As well as the absolutely ideal sailing, the fleet was royally entertained in the clubhouse; in local members’ houses for the traditional At Home evening; at the Waveney & Oulton Broad YC sailing the gaff rigged Waveney and Broads One Designs; at the hilarious “Mid Fleet Club” and by a wonderful concert with the Sheringham Shantymen. In addition to all this, the fleet scrubbed up well for a superbly managed prize giving dinner to end the week.

To make things perfect, a different crew took home the silverware each day.

With tricky tides and wind shifts and in a very hot fleet, all except one of the top ten boats posted a discard of 12 or worse and it was consistency rather than race winning that gave overall victory and the John Player Trophy to David Best and Pete Richards sailing Crossfire 797 from South Caernarvonshire YC. Runner up was Owen Delaney with Mark Duffield in his last regatta before retirement from competitive racing, and third were the six times National Champions, father and son Chris & Mark Hogan.

In addition to the title sponsor, The Working Manager, the much appreciated day sponsors were Norfolk Marine, Norfolk & Suffolk Insurance, SLP, Peter Colby, Instone, Ocean Team 2000, Holt, Tim & Hazel Barrett, White Marine Services, Hyde Sails, Aldreds, Batt Sails and Lonton & Gray.

25 Squibs at the East Coast Championships, 45 Squibs at the 40th Anniversary Regatta, 61 entrants at the Nationals, 40 entered for Cowes Week, an expectation of over 50 at the Inlands (with minimum overlap between events) and with the South Coasts and four major Irish Championships yet to come, where does this vibrant fleet go next?

Well, there will be 100 Squibs at Weymouth for the Nationals in 2009 and rumours are rife of invitations to events in Hamburg and the Ijsselmeer in Holland where there are embryonic Squib Fleets and of a class start at the Royal Cannes Sailing Regatta, September 2009. Not bad for a boat celebrating its 40th birthday, is it?

Trophy Winners:

Royal Tay Quaich	Ghost Rider 758	Mike & Penny Fenwick	Weymouth
Founders Trophy	Ric O’Shea 136	Chris & Mark Hogan	Port Dinorwic / South Caernarvon
Abersoch Trophy	Alchemy 800	Gerard Dyson & Tony Saltonstall	Royal Yorkshire
Royal Corinthian Challenge Plate	Artemis II	Mark Wincer & Pete Hallinan	Felixstowe Ferry
Seahorse Trophy	Firebird 50	Owen Delaney & Mark Duffield	Royal Norfolk & Suffolk
Waldringfield Trophy	Cariad Bach 132	Alan Johnson & David Garlick	South Caernarvon

Overall Results: (for boats sailing all races)

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	Crew	Club
1	797	Crossfire	David Best	Pete Richards	SCYC
2	50	Firebird	Owen Delany	Mark Duffield	RNSYC
3	136	Ric O'Shea	Chris Hogan	Mark Hogan	PDSC/SCYC
4	800	Alchemy	Gerard Dyson	Tony Saltonstall	RYYC
5	83	Easy	David White	Peter Ballam	FFSC
6	758	Ghost Rider	Mike Fenwick	Penny Fenwick	WSC
7	73	Brimstone	Bryan Riley	Jenny Riley	WOBYC
8	823	Humphrey	Robert Coyle	Melanie Titmus	RCYC
9	96	Moonstone	Malcom Blackburn	Fran Blackburn	SCYC
10	132	Cariad Bach	Alan Johnson	David Garlick	SCYC
11	847	Lil Quacky	Tim Jones	Simon Coppock	HSC/SCYC
12	801	Tears For Fears	Peter Marchant	Jack Grogan	RCYC
13	127	Misfire	Roger Harris	Mark Thompson	SCYC
14	819	Lady Penelope	Malcolm Hutchings	Andy Ramsey	RCYC/BSC
15	105	Helmut Schoing	Nigel Grogan	Daniel Cipps	RCYC
16	43	In the Pink	Lloyd Crisp	Alan Cone	WOBYC
17	473	Greenfly	John Bibby	Louise Bibby	RAYC
18	838	Maximus	Max Evans	Tim Riley	FFSC
19	830	Spirit of Perfection	Jim Tubby	David Gale	RNSYC
20	142	Squiggle	John Lewis	Mark Knights	BSC
21	810	Clever Dick	Richard Sullivan	Mike Davies	RNSYC
22	846	Flying Fish	Sam Cole	Denise Sinclair	RNSYC
23	36	Artemis II	Mark Wincer	Pete Hallinan	FFSC
24	99	Rebound	Richard Peacock	Glyn Roberts	SCYC
25	789	Dream On	Brian Holland	John Stephenson	SCYC
26	828	White Magic	David Wines	Anthony Proctor	West Hoe SC
27	58	Still Talkin	Christian Young	Kerr Sinclair	WOBYC
28	40	Forty Winks	Mike Hughes	Carl Jeffries	SCYC
29	709	Electra	Paul Buckley	Sarah Buckley	RCYC
30	849	SAS	Phil Snewin	Nick Spall	SCYC
31	89	Klipbok	Emmet Dalton	Neal Merry	HYC
32	44	Perfection	Jill Fleming	Vincent Delany	RSGYC
33	140	Kinnard	N Squirrell	S Howells	WSC
34	818	Toy For the Boys	Peter Wallace	Neill Strain	RNIYC
35	796	Bootneck	John Lewis	John Hepburn	RWYC
36	157	Chequemate	Sarah Sullivan	Ian Simons	RCYC/BSC
37	749	Tractor Wilson	Colin Bentley	Keith Twinn	FFSC
38	97	Ex Flame	Sally Duggdale	Gilly Foulds	NBYC
39	120	Squiblissatude	Ted Reilly	Tom Crean	FFSC
40	811	Spoof	Simon Griffin	Tony Holman	RCYC
41	510	No Wonder	Kit Noble	Jim Prower	RDYC
42	108	Ogo Pogo	Toby Taylor	John Sharman	SCYC
43	833	Billy	David Eddows	Alan Woosey	SGYC
44	92	Heartbeat	Richard Dell	Mark Drake	WOBYC
45	94	Confusion	Peter Horton	David Gooch	RNSYC
46	684	Astron	George Johnson	Patrick Nicholls	AYC
47	848	Soopa-Doopa-Flooka	Adrian Fluker	Mathew Anthony	RCYC
48	57	Bobonski	Craig Hughes	Dave Miller	HSC
49	858	Bacchante VIII	Harvey Worden	Roland Wilson	RAYC
50	512	Atom	Peter Johnson	Garry Bowers	RDYC
51	809	Squffy	Chris Stonehouse	Chris Stonehouse	RSC
52	857	Rising Damp	David East	Chris Edwards	WSC
53	855	Croc	N. Faulkner	Richard Thurston	RNSYC
54	543	Polly Garter	David Hall	Ann Elliot	RAYC
55	588	Jetstream	Derek Higgins	Sean Clarkson	RYYC
56	841	Billy Ruff'n	David West	Philip Cresswell	RNSYC/OSC
57	854	B of the Bang	Paul Hardy	Harriet Hardy	West Hoe SC