Spitfire Nationals at Minnis Bay Sailing Club

by Marcelle Newbold 14 Oct 2009 08:52 BST 9-11 October 2009

Last weekend Minnis Bay Sailing Club hosted the combined Spitfire and Shadow Nationals 2009.

A good turnout of 23 Spitfires and 13 Shadows took part in three days of excellent racing in force 3 - 5 winds, with very well run, fast turn around races. See separate Shadow report for their results.

Day One - Friday

A strong force 5 breeze greeted the competitors as they rigged for the first race of eight race series. There was very close racing within the spitfire fleet, with a separate start for the shadows. The round the ends rule applied throughout the event.

The first race was won by Crewsaver Chris Sproat & Georgina Burke, followed by Alex Farr & Marcelle Newbold, then Gary Smith & Lynn Whitmore. Many thought that Sproat / Burke would dominate the racing once again, but it was not to be. Henry White and his able crew Ed Redfern took the second race of the day, laying down their challenge for the rest of the event, followed once again by Farr / Newbold in second and guest helm and crew David White and Kyle Stoneham in third. The third race was also close, with a couple of individual recalls, but Smith / Whitmore took the bullet with Seb Greber & Nikki Boniface in second and White / Stoneham third.

By the end of racing day one Smith / Whitmore from Eastbourne were leading, joint points with Farr / Newbold, third and fourth also had the same points - Sproat / Burke and White / Stoneham respectively. There was still all to play for with no clear leader.

Day Two - Saturday

A good breeze today but with the wind direction switched 180 degrees, the wind was against the tide causing tricky conditions for the 16 foot Spitfire. Racing started in a steady force 4 gusting 5. With a number of general recalls and a few OCS members of the fleet were unexpectedly caught out once the results were posted after racing, and with only one discard, there was little room for mistakes. In the last race of the day 4 boats were OCS due to the strong tide, there were plenty of capsizes due to the short sharp chop also.

After day two Farr / Newbold were leading with White / Stoneham second and Greber / Boniface in third. It was still very tight at the top and with two races tomorrow left to decide the championship. Smith / Whitmore received two OCS's today which had put them out of the running for the top three. Crewsaver Sproat / Burke were carrying an OCS and DNF and were also out of the running for the top spot.

Day Three - Sunday

Once again the competitors woke to a good force 3-4 breeze and the first race was complete before the tide turned to produce the wind against tide effect. With yesterdays OCS massacre teams were playing it safe with the starts to secure their positions.

Farr / Newbold had to finish better than fifth in race seven to win the title. After being first to the top mark and holding their position, on the last windward rounding a capsize saw them slip back to fifth place, but it was enough to win the event. Smith / Whitmore won race seven, showing their consistency throughout the regatta, White / Stoneham second, White / Redfern third. White / Redfern took the last race of the event to secure their third place overall, with Farr / Newbold second, White / Stoneham third.

The three days saw very close racing and the single discard certainly made things interesting. It was good to have the youth teams attend the event, they all performed well in tricky conditions.

Overall Results:

Pos	Helm	Crew	Sail No	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Pts
1	Alex Farr	Marcelle Newbold	100	2	2	4	1	2	1	5	2	14
2	David White	Kyle Stoneham	189	4	3	3	24	4	2	2	3	21
3	Henry White	Edward Redfearn	196	8	1	6	2	15	3	4	1	25
4	Seb Greber	Nikki Boniface	111	7	5	2	3	3	5	3	4	25
5	Gary Smith	Lynn Whitmore	145	3	4	1	24	5	24	1	5	43
6	Simon Northrop	Robyn  Ford	28	5	7	7	7	6	24	6	6	44
7	Alan Manser	Alfie Clark	144	9	9	9	5	7	4	8	7	49
8	Nick Williams	Sera Williams	22	6	6	10	4	24	6	10	8	50
9	Joshua Hunt	Freddie White	106	11	24	8	9	9	24	7	9	77
10	Steve Smith	Harry Willet	172	10	11	11	13	13	9	19	14	81
11	Robert Way	Eric Evans	57	16	10	13	17	12	7	14	11	83
12	Chris Sproat	Georgina Burke	188	1	8	5	24	1	24	24	24	87
13	Richard Golden	Matt Illston	99	13	13	24	6	18	8	17	13	88
14	David Vercoe	Carole Whitaker	95	24	24	24	8	10	11	9	10	96
15	Brian Murphy	Annette Ni Mhurchadha	44	24	15	15	10	24	12	11	12	99
16	Sebastien Samways	Daniel Channing	61	15	18	19	14	11	10	12	20	99
17	Mike Speller	Charles Willet	132	14	12	14	24	8	24	13	16	101
18	James Henson	Josh Potts	102	12	17	12	11	24	24	16	22	114
19	Mike Smith	Helen Suttie	59	17	16	16	12	24	24	18	15	118
20	Mark Smith	Jack Thomas	70	18	20	18	24	16	13	20	17	122
21	Alicia Clifford	Siobhon Lamb	74	20	19	17	16	14	24	21	19	126
22	Steve Tildesley	Paul Tildesley	25	21	21	20	15	17	24	22	21	137
23	Peter Richardson	Fenella Miller	128	19	14	24	24	24	24	15	18	138

Youth Results:
1st Seb Greber & Nikki Boniface, Pevensey Bay SC
2nd Josh Hunt & Freddie White, Brightlingsea
3rd Sebastien Samways & Daniel Channing, Pevensey Bay SC

Furthest travelled boat: Brian Murphy & Annette Ni Mhurchadha from Blessington, Ireland
Oldest combined crew: Peter Richardson & Fenella Miller (over 110 years old!)
Youngest combined crew: James Henson & Josh Potts (29 years combined!)
Most improved boat: David Vercoe & Carole Whitcher, Eastbourne Sovereign SC

'Bloody Amateur' trophy:
NDYC boats, presented to Steve Smith for putting his mast up backwards! Down the pan trophy: Gary Smith and Lynn Whitmore for falling from grace after being court over the line twice leaving their championship dreams in shatters. Donated to the Spitfire Class Association by Bill Partridge of the ex condor/4.9 class association. The tasteful brown Royal Doulton toilet bowl mounted on wooden floats is to be given to the sailor who came so close yet so far away from doing their best. The trophy originated in 1978 and was saved from a house being demolished by Dave Platts and presented as a prize. At some point the pan broke and a new one was donated by Royal Doulton of the Isle of Sheppey.

Many thanks once again to Minnis Bay Sailing Club and their excellent organisation, we look forward to returning next year.

Next Spitfire event - the Inland Championships at the Grafham Cat Open, October 24 - 25th.