70 catamarans took part in the Grafham Cat Open which happily
(after the storms of last year) took place on a sunny weekend in a force 2-3
light Southerly breeze. A number of classes used the event as their last
traveller of the Summer and also a number of Inland Championships were run in
the event. The following is a summary of the results.
The Sprint 15s
were the largest fleet with 28 entries for the Inland Championships. Isle
of Wight sailor, Liam Thom, won the event (4,1,1,6,1) from David Ball
(2,4,6,2,2) of Marconi and Jenny Ball also of Marconi was third. Jason Clarke
won the Youth Trophy
The Fast Double handicap class had 21 entries including 10 Formula 18s. The F18 of Simon Northrop
and Caleb Cooper from Minnis Bay were the winners (1,1,1,1,1), the F18 of Grant
Piggott and Simon Farren from Weston were second and the F18 of Nathaniel Ward
and Paul Wakelin were third. The youth
contingent in their Nacra 15s
fielded 6 boats and the winners were Theo and Jasmine Williams from
Restronguet. Nacra 15 Runners up were Abigail Clarke and Alfie Cogger from
Grafham. Top Spitfire was Alex and
Charlie Hamel from Brightlingsea.
The Fast Single handicap class was once again won by the Shadow X of Robin Leather (Gurnard) who won all 6
races. The top A Class sailor in second place overall was Peter Boxer of Clacton
and second A class was Daniel Brzezinski also of Clacton.
The Medium handicap class of 14 boats included 8 Catapults. The overall winner was Prindle 15 sailor Gerry Reeve of
Grafham. Second overall and Catapult
winner was Gareth Ede of Yorkshire Dales, third overall was the Dart 18 single
handed of Scott Wilcox of Stewartby and the Catapult runner up was John Terry
of Rutland.
The Club was a buzz for the whole weekend and the sailors
enjoyed an excellent dinner and a drink in the bar at the Club on Saturday
night.
All 6 races were run and the Race officers Peter Saxton and
Nigel Denchfield were thanked for good courses and quick turnarounds that have
become customary at Grafham events. The sailors went away satisfied after an
excellent regatta.
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