Spitfire National Championships at at Pagham Yacht Club

Last weekend 24 boats took part in the 2007 Spitfire National Championships at Pagham Yacht Club, with boats from as far afield as Ireland and France, including the current joint European and National champion Jonathon Loday defending his title. It was a very competitive 3 days racing, with the winner decided on the last race of the last day.

The atmosphere at the venue was electric and race management by Starlight Coaching was top level and the conditions over the eight races varied, with a breezy Friday, very light Saturday and increasingly gusty Sunday.

Friday saw the two races as planned with the Crewsaver team of Chris Sproat and Georgina Burke taking the first race and the F18 sailors Stuart Gummer and Hannah Burke the second, with a gusty force 4 -5 there were plenty of capsizes and close racing to keep things interesting.

Five races were planned for the Saturday but as the light breeze got lighter only 2 were completed, both went to female helm Rosanna Jury and guest crew Chris Rashley. Saturday night saw a live band at the club and the AGM, it was a nice surprise to see Reg White and his wife at the event.

The heavier crews hoped for a bit more breeze on the last day and as Sunday progressed the wind built, as did the seas, into a constantly shifting force 5. With the points close on the results table there was all to play for as we knew that the race offers were planning on 4 races for the day.

Adam Piggott and David White won the first of the day, Gummer and Burke the second and Sproat and Burke the third. With the position changing all the time, mixed in with a couple of capsizes and tricky conditions three boats were tied going into the last race, Sproat and Burke, Gummer and Burke, Piggott and White. With the wind at force 5 and waves increasing Gummer kept his head and managed to pull off the win and take the title. Leaving Sproat and Burke with second, Piggott and White third and the defending champion fourth. With very close racing within the top 7, 6 teams were tied on points, this event highlighted the huge appeal of one design mixed team Spitfire racing.

Well done to Pagham who were excellent hosts and to Starlight for faultless race management, we look forward to our next event at Grafham water Cat Open, our Inland Championships on October 20 – 21st 2007. It was great to see some new faces at the Nationals, we hope to see you on the circuit again.

Next year's Spitfire Nationals will be with the Shadow and Hurricane classes at Brightlingsea on 26th-28th September 2008, including Reg White’s retirement party, making it a really special event.

Overall Results: