Consistency proved to be the winning factor for them - they didn’t win a race during the week, but notched up the lowest points through consistency by being in the top six in every race and discarding a 15th.
At the prize giving on Friday evening, Wakefield thanked his wife Sally for allowing him to sleep through the night and not have to get up to feed their new-born daughter Pippa.
It was a first for other top performers too -- Greaves and Edwards have done several nationals together before but have never achieved such a high result.
Alasdair Alston and Joanne Bishop in 34th were the best improvers and won a Hyde jib. Alston, who has recently graduated from Sheffield University, increased his position by a whopping 27 places from the 2008 championships in Torquay.
Lizzie Edwards and Ruth Verrier-Jones were the highest ladies team at 14th. The much-coveted Ultimate trophy was won by Tony Thresher and Mike Radford from West Oxford Sailing Club.
The final day’s racing was particularly exciting after the overall result was thrown open when racing was cancelled on Thursday. Steve Tylecote and Sally Wilson, who had been leading the fleet all week, were unable to sail on Friday due to wedding commitments and so lost their strong position.
At the start on Friday morning, the top 8 in the fleet were in contention for victory.
The crew of a veteran Firefly helm was wearing the dress for the windy race for failing to make it home and sleeping with her dog in the car the night after the fancy dress party on Wednesday night. The car needed a thorough clean, and according to her housemates she was particularly relieved to have Thursday off to recover when racing was cancelled!
Millie Hughes was awarded the Duckhams dress on Friday after the prizegiving for falling asleep and then falling overboard as she was being towed in on Friday afternoon. Her exhaustion was attributed to the challenging racing conditions but was perhaps more to do with the late night the night before!
If this year’s conditions are repeated at Tenby for the 2010 Nationals, the Firefly fleet had better get in training!
In the meantime, the fleet is preparing for the next open meeting at Chipstead Sailing Club on September 6, followed by the open at Upper Thames a week later.
All 126 sailors at the Nationals were entered into the prize draw to win a brand new Rondar F4000 complete with spars and sails. All sailors (both helm and crew) that enter an open meeting in the 2009 Firefly calendar will receive raffle tickets for the competition.
The prizedraw for F4000 will take place at an end-of-season party in London on November 14. See the NFA website for details on how to buy tickets www.fireflysailing.org.uk
Dramatic footage and photos as well as race reports from the 2009 Nationals are also available there.
| Pos | Sail No | Boat Name | Helm and Crew | Races | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 3674 | Flo | Nigel Wakefield & Emily Saunderson | 6, 6, 6, 2, 15, 3, 2 | 25 |
| 2 | 1867 | Cumulus | Steve Greaves and Caroline Edwards | 5, 8, 9, 3, 5, 2, 12 | 32 |
| 3 | 3850 | Fursty Ferret | Stuart and Jane Hudson | 2, 15, 1, 16, 12, 1, 3 | 34 |
| 4 | 2649 | Mustard | Alex Davey & Jonquil Brookes | 15, 5, 7, 13, 6, 5, 4 | 40 |
| 5 | 3119 | Horror | Roger and Amy Morris | 7, 26, 14, 9, 3, 6, 5 | 44 |
| 6 | 3617 | tbc | Rob and Mel Sherrington | 63, 14, 2, 17, 7, 4, 1 | 45 |
| 7 | 2144 | Featherlite | Ben and Jenny Vines | 3, 2, 4, 6, 14, 22, 33 | 51 |
| 8 | 888 | Desperado | David Chisholm and Alice Gardner | 4, 16, 3, 23, 25, 9, 8 | 63 |
| 9 | 498 | Dido | Mark Tait and Penny Hooper | 8, 10, 8, 14, 17, 7, 24 | 64 |
| 10 | 3924 | TBA | Tom Mallindine and Jamie Dick | 63, 4, 20, 12, 1, 21, 9 | 67 |
| 11 | 3037 | Grasshopper | Steve Tylecote and Sally Wilson | 1, 1, 5, 1, 2, 63, 63 | 73 |
| 12 | 3023 | Fourwood Thinking | Barney Smith & Alannah Witherby | 63, 3, 25, 8, 24, 10, 6 | 76 |
| 13 | 3615 | Skirmish | Jamie McEwen and Gerogie Sutcliffe | 19, 12, 19, 7, 16, 8, 14 | 76 |
| 14 | 3708 | Atomic | Lizzie Edwards and Ruth Verrier-Jones | 17, 13, 13, 4, 19, 15, 15 | 77 |
| 15 | 2659 | Kong | Ben Lumby and Liz Evans | 20, 9, 18, 5, 4, 27, 23 | 79 |
| 16 | 3895 | Inanda | Tony Thresher and Mike Radford | 9, 18, 12, 19, 13, 18, 13 | 83 |
| 17 | 3095 | Mensonge | Chris Guy and Anne-Marie Goss | 12, 20, 17, 28, 8, 16, 11 | 84 |
| 18 | 3798 | Devon Destroyer | Jonathan Frary and Emlyn Davies | 23, 43, 11, 24, 10, 11, 7 | 86 |
| 19 | 3612 | Red Baron | Matt Johnson and Julia Beck | 14, 17, 10, 10, 20, 23, 17 | 88 |
| 20 | 3690 | Mutsy | Rosie Davey and Giles Bradford | 18, 21, 22, 21, 18, 14, 10 | 102 |
| 21 | 2539 | Dillon | Guy Davison and Izzy Bretherton | 11, 25, 21, 26, 11, 26, 22 | 116 |
| 22 | 0 | Mojo | Andy Cornah and Kate Fairclough | 10, 11, 15, 11, 9, 63, 63 | 119 |
| 23 | 3920 | John | Mike and Debs Steele | 29, 23, 30, 25, 22, 13, 16 | 128 |
| 24 | 27 | TBC | Jon Lye and Laura White | 16, 32, 16, 44, 35, 12, 19 | 130 |
| 25 | 3415 | Lurcher | Chris and Sue Johnson | 25, 22, 36, 31, 21, 42, 29 | 164 |
| 26 | 3456 | The Brown Rouse | Michael Brown and Jemma Spicer | 22, 51, 37, 27, 27, 33, 26 | 172 |
| 27 | 3693 | Eric | Edward Wilkinson and Moira Thresher | 33, 30, 63, 43, 26, 25, 20 | 177 |
| 28 | 369 | tbc | Bryony Meakins and Heather Jones | 27, 29, 27, 33, 29, 63, 32 | 177 |
| 29 | 3749 | Wild Thyme | Jonty Sherwill & Vicki Weston | 24, 44, 23, 46, 63, 20, 21 | 178 |
| 30 | 3823 | Thermopylae | Ben Meakins and Steph Harding | 39, 41, 34, 20, 37, 24, 27 | 181 |
| 31 | 3967 | Insomnia | Tom Lonsdale and Emily Herridge | 21, 27, 40, 35, 28, 39, 37 | 187 |
| 32 | 3748 | Peppermint Hippo | Andy Reynold Jones and Rebecca Marriott | 30, 33, 26, 38, 40, 28, 34 | 189 |
| 33 | 3739 | Willow | Lucy Boreham and R Crebbin | 40, 37, 35, 42, 23, 29, 28 | 192 |
| 34 | 29 | TBC | Alasdair Alston and Joanne Bishop | 37, 28, 33, 36, 34, 63, 25 | 193 |
| 35 | 3610 | Tiffany | Richard Thompson and Susan Breen | 32, 40, 44, 49, 48, 17, 18 | 199 |
| 36 | 1053 | Api Api | Dan and Ella Vincent | 34, 7, 51, 15, 32, 63, 63 | 202 |
| 37 | 3072 | Squeaky | Damian Boreham and Fiona Jones | 26, 24, 24, 18, 49, 63, 63 | 204 |
| 38 | 3713 | Arjosarus | Simon Reynolds-Jones and | 28, 38, 38, 48, 47, 19, 35 | 205 |
| 39 | 2324 | Saskia | Rupert and Kathryn Whelan | 38, 39, 39, 32, 38, 38, 31 | 216 |
| 40 | 3113 | Smartie | Henry and Mike Arnold | 35, 19, 41, 37, 36, 63, 63 | 231 |
| 41 | 3616 | Top Dolly | Jonathon Bickford and Susanna and Vick1 | 13, 63, 63, 63, 30, 30, 38 | 237 |
| 42 | 3626 | Footsie | Simon Cowdell and Louise Renwick | 43, 53, 28, 51, 43, 32, 41 | 238 |
| 43 | 8 | Fate | Guy English & Ben Santy | 45, 35, 47, 34, 46, 31, 63 | 238 |
| 44 | 30 | Thelma | Andrew Handasye Dick and Pie Romer | 42, 50, 43, 45, 50, 34, 30 | 244 |
| 45 | 3649 | TBC | Fredrick Mainwaring and Jennifer Lamb | 47, 52, 42, 47, 45, 35, 36 | 252 |
| 46 | 1811 | Tit Willow | Peter Slimming and Jill Vines/Callum Weston | 50, 42, 31, 41, 33, 63, 63 | 260 |
| 47 | 2550 | Frolic | Hermione Pattison and Jo Mason | 49, 31, 48, 40, 31, 63, 63 | 262 |
| 48 | 614 | Listless | Natasha Lister and Helen Williamson | 51, 34, 49, 30, 44, 63, 63 | 271 |
| 49 | 123 | Gremlin | Simon Vines and Tom Watling | 31, 48, 45, 22, 63, 63, 63 | 272 |
| 50 | 180 | Ian | Tom Shawcroft and Imogen Taylor | 52, 46, 50, 59, 54, 40, 39 | 281 |
| 51 | 2065 | Tinkerbell | Luke Thompson and Kate Merritt | 63, 36, 29, 52, 39, 63, 63 | 282 |
| 52 | 26 | tbc | Milly Hughes and Naomi Tayler | 36, 49, 32, 39, 63, 63, 63 | 282 |
| 53 | 3884 | Ross | Lizzie and Annie Shawcroft | 48, 54, 46, 56, 42, 36, 63 | 282 |
| 54 | 3033 | Trinket | James Clayton and Steven Clayton | 41, 45, 63, 53, 53, 37, 63 | 292 |
| 55 | 3184 | Flycatcher | Michael Brigg and Emma Brigg | 53, 59, 52, 58, 55, 41, 40 | 299 |
| 56 | 3476 | Elmos Fire | Belinda Joslin and Sam Harty | 44, 47, 63, 29, 63, 63, 63 | 309 |
| 58 | 3692 | Katie B | Richard Root and Alexander Francis | 54, 55, 53, 50, 51, 63, 63 | 326 |
| 57 | 3341 | Bonfire | Andrew Bates and Mandy Thompson | 46, 56, 63, 57, 41, 63, 63 | 326 |
| 59 | 626 | No name | Alaistair & Julia Morley | 55, 57, 54, 54, 52, 63, 63 | 335 |
| 60 | 3809 | Sound Chief | Jon Geddes and Jim Bramley | 63, 58, 63, 55, 63, 63, 63 | 365 |
| 61 | 3711 | Peggy D | Alice & Rob Hurlstone | 56, 60, 63, 60, 63, 63, 63 | 365 |
| 62 | 3799 | Emlyn boat | Emlyn Davies and Katie Franklin | 63, 63, 63, 63, 63, 63, 63 | 378 |