National Swallow Championships at Itchenor Sailing Club
by David Priscott 21 Sep 2009 08:25 BST
12-13 September 2009
Gwaihir wins by a feather
The Swallow National Championships were sailed in Bracklesham Bay outside Chichester Harbour over the weekend of 12/13 September. The five race programme hosted by Itchenor Sailing Club was completed in the sometimes blustery and frequently shifty NE force 4/5 breeze which prevailed throughout.
The event was ultimately dominated by Gwaihir (Mike Wigmore/Mark Struckett) and Marengo (Carolyn Brigg). In the opener Skua (Harry Roome) lead from a black flag start around the Olympic triangle course, with Marengo and Gwaihir following. The offshore breeze had some bends and many random shifts that over the weekend that were to confound many. The next windward/leeward race went to Gwaihir with Echo (Chris Body) quickly back into his Swallow stride in 2nd and Marengo making up for a poor start to finish 3rd. In the third and final race of day one Marengo made no mistakes and comfortably won the Olympic triangle race from Skua with Gwaihir 3rd. The overnight leader was Marengo with Gwaihir just a point behind.
Gwaihir gave notice of her intentions by winning the 4th race – but only after electing to take the starboard leeward gate mark to gain the advantage from Spectre (Guy Knight) who had lead from a well taken pin end start. Marengo gained steadily from another poor start to take 3rd. In the final race and after another black flag start Spectre took early control and stayed there with Echo taking 2nd. Meanwhile Gwaihir was indulging in some pre-start and first beat match racing to sail Marengo down the fleet. Job done, Gwaihir then advanced to 4th while Marengo gained 3 places on the final beat to finish just one place behind. It was challenging championship with the event going to the wire with Gwaihir established as the front runner - but it was all very close, as ever in the very competitive Swallow fleet.
Overall Results:
1st Gwaihir (Mike Wigmore, Mark Struckett, Andy Shaw/Andy Pinkham) 8 points
2nd Marengo (Carolyn Brigg, David and Olly Sloper) 9 points
3rd Echo (Chris Body, Simon Miller and Andrew Martin) 16 points