British Sharpie Nationals at Brancaster Staithe Sailing Club

A record entry of 40 boats for the Sharpie nationals in Norfolk © Francesca Farrell

2007 saw a record entry for the Sharpie Nationals with 40 entries for the championships including eight Dutch boats making the journey to the North Norfolk coast. Along with the international influx, the fleet was boosted by several new boats with young crews as well as some old faces returning after a few years away from the scene; encouraging signs for the class fresh from celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2006.

Brancaster Staithe Sailing Club was the host for this year’s event with a total of six races scheduled over the 3 days. Day 1 saw the fleet head out to sea in a gentle breeze but with a medium swell running following a week of strong northerlies. The first race set the pace for the weekend with defending champions Chris and Tim Gibbs making a strong start to take the win, followed by the current European champions, Tom Weller and Jeroen van Veen, in second place and another Dutch team, Dennis van Vliet and Marcel Verlaan in third place. Race 2 brought another win for the Gibbs brothers, this time from Paddy Spink and John Ellison in second place with Tom and Jeroen taking third.

Friday evening was the first chance for the youth of the fleet to show some dominance; seeing away copious amounts of Pimms at the BSSC Reception followed by the somewhat traditional meander down the village to do their bit for Anglo-Dutch relations in the White Horse.

Day 2 saw a thick fog engulf the coastline so as to make sailing at sea untenable for safety reasons. Race Officer, Mike Spink, made the brave decision to start one race on the top of the tide in the harbour. Despite a rather crowded start line the confined conditions and flat water provided an enthralling contrast to the previous days racing with James Case and Jimmy Goodley adapting the best to take a well deserved win. Never far from the front; the Gibbs took second with Tom and Jeroen in third place.

The Saturday evening provided a stage for various members of the fleet to showcase their musical talents. Once again, the Brits showed that if nothing else they could out do the Dutch in the singing competition with ease. Following this the real talent was let loose with Gemma Nye, Tom Herbert, James Nye, Will Ellison and Mark Healing entertaining the fleet with superb guitar skills and the vocals to match.

Sunday morning saw some clearer weather and so the fleet headed back out to sea for the final two races and plenty of drama with the blag flag coming into play to disqualify four boats after the first general recall. Jerry Clark and Rob Howlett made the most of the lighter conditions to take first place in Race 4 and were followed by Paddy and John in second and Tom and Jeroen in third. Another black flag in the final race caught out a further three boats; this time it was Tom and Jeroen to take advantage and sail to their first win of the series. Jerry and Rob took second place to complete an excellent day for them with Paddy and John taking third.

After some confusion concerning the counting of black flag results, Chris and Tim Gibbs were finally crowned champions to sustain their dominance at the front of the British Sharpie fleet. Second place went to Tom Weller and Jeroen van Veen with Paddy Spink and John Ellison taking third. Oli Read and Henry Burkitt were also recognised for their hard work in getting their respective boats ready for the weekend in order to helm their first championships.

Following the close racing at the front of the fleet at the Nationals, thoughts are now turning to the upcoming Europeans at the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy, which promises to be an exciting event for this ex-Olympic class. With a bit of luck we might see a British crew taking the championships, but if not we’ll definitely win the singing competition.

Overall Results: