Prima 38 Inshore Nationals at Royal Western Yacht Club
by Tara Barber 29 Aug 2003 10:16 BST
23rd-25th August 2003 (RWYC, Plymouth)
The Royal Western YC was host to the 2003 Prima One-Design Inshore National Championship. A small but extremely competitive fleet of 8 boats took part in the event over the August Bank holiday weekend (23rd-25th).
The event was made up of a series of 7 races – 5 windward-leeward courses and 2 round the can races. The defending champions, John Perry’s Firestorm, set off to a good beginning on day one after a late start due to light conditions. The breeze eventually filled in from the south-west and the first windward-leeward course produced a close finish with Firestorm leading, followed by Don Kennedy’s Oz Privateer in second and local boat, Bare Knuckles, owned by Bob Gateshill, in third. The next race took the fleet around the cans. After an exciting start, with most of the boats vying for the committee boat end, Firestorm got away with Longbow and finished first and second respectively with Bare Knuckles in third.
Following a sailing supper at the club, a number of the crews set off and sampled the delights of Plymouth. There were a few bleary eyes on the start of day 2 but all the boats were raring to go. A series of 3 windward-leeward courses were on offer. As with the first day, the winds were light and filled in late morning from the south-west. The day produced a variety of results and a number of protests!!! Firestorm won the first race, with Longbow and Bare Knuckles getting bullets in races 4 and 5 respectively. At the end of day 2 though the mid-fleet results made for interesting reading with Oz Privateer lying third with Longbow and Serendip following closely in 4th and 5th place.
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Monday’s weather brought a good 15+ knots of breeze from the east and set the pace for the final day’s racing. Bare Knuckles won race 7 but it was Firestorm with her fourth bullet of the weekend in race 6 that allowed her to successfully defend her title and become the Inshore National Champion for another year.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Type | Sail No | Boat Name | Helm | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | Prima 38 | GBR6505 | Firestorm | J Perry | 8 |
| 2nd | Prima 38 | GBR6514 | Bare Knuckles | R Gateshill | 11.5 |
| 3rd | Prima 38 | GBR6513 | Longbow | Army Sailing Association | 19.75 |
| 4th | Prima 38 | GBR6510 | Serendip | P King | 25 |
| 5th | Prima 38 | GBR6512 | Oz Privateer | D Kennedy | 27 |
| 6th | Prima 38 | GBR6507 | White Knuckles II | A Williams | 30 |
| 7th | Prima 38 | GBR7753 | Gusto IV | A Hinton-Lever | 32 |
| 8th | Prima 38 | GBR6501 | White Knuckles I | M Hughes | 39 |