National 18 Nationals at Isle of Man Yacht Club

Sponsored by DATACENTRE

The Isle of Man YC, Port St Mary hosted the 2002 National 18’ Championship. 23 boats entered the event, 17 were visitors. 11 teams had travelled from Cork, 6 from Findhorn and 1 from England. The practice race was held on Friday 9th and the 10 Championship races were scheduled, 2 a day, from Saturday 10th to Wednesday 14th August. The odd timing of the IOM event is dictated by the weekly, Thursday, ferry service between Douglas and Dublin.

For the practice race, a stiff off shore NW wind was blowing. Local boat “Ant-e-dote”, sailed by Antony Ellis and crew were leading on lap 3, when the windward mark went walkabout. To reduce possible boat damage before the championship, RO Russell Collister abandoned the race but gave Antony the practice trophy anyway – he was well away with it, to be fair.

Saturday dawned with a very strong NNW wind. In Bay ny Carrickey, this wind is funnelled down into the bay through gaps in the hills and can be a real gear smasher, so no boats were allowed to launch.

Sunday: A light to moderate SW breeze made 3 races possible. Results were mixed for the whole fleet as they tried to come to terms with the almost undecipherable spring tide currents around the bay.

Race 1 was won by Ewen Barry and crew (Royal Cork), sailing 369 “Goose Drank Wine”. Second place went to local boat 350 “Carrey Beayn” helmed by Mick Kneale and third was Colin Barry sailing 358 “Whoze yer Daddy”.

Race 2 went to Antony Ellis, with Ewen Barry runner-up and newcomers, Nick Walsh and crew sailing 372 “3 Blind Mice” in third.

Race 3 was a bullet for Colin Barry, second Nick Walsh and third going to Ali Summers and crew (Royal Findhorn YC) sailing 330 “Fat Boy Racer”.

Monday: Another moderate SW breeze again let 3 races be completed to catch up with the programme. Race 4 saw a win to reigning Champion, Davy O’Connell sailing 356 “Ball n’ Chain”. About time too, after scoring 10,18 and 17 on day one! Second place, was taken by the improving 337 “Jafiica”, helmed by Findhorn boat-builder, Martin Cruden and Nick Walsh scored a solid third.

Nick Walsh got to the top of the heap in Race 5 - his first ever championship win in the class. Second came Colin Barry, with brother Ewen finishing third.

Race 6 gave Davy O’Connell another top slot, another second place for Martin Cruden and previous (1998 and 1999) Champion, Tom Dwyer sailing 347 “Das Boot” got a third.

Tuesday: The SW breeze had now built to 20 knots more so and with the spring tides there were steep and confused seas. Race 7 got off on time although a couple of boats thought it better stay ashore and a couple more had gone out to the race area and decided to surf straight back. On the first beat another 5 boats also opted for an early shower. Those that remained enjoyed exhilarating sailing downwind, claiming afterwards never to have achieved such speeds under sail. Quite a number of capsizes were inevitable. Former Laser sailor Nick Walsh and crew won the race with Mick Kneale second and Ewen Barry third.

Conditions were worsening and with the safety boat fleet at full stretch, racing was again postponed.

Wednesday: It was fortunate that the SW winds had abated slightly overnight, so that another 3-race day could be sailed. The seas were as big and confused as yesterday, which led to six boats not even rigging up. The Championship was still up for grabs, of course, so the keen and hardy souls went for it. Another great day of white-knuckle rides downwind and mountaineering upwind was “enjoyed”. Race 8 was won by Davy O’Connell, Ewen Barry second and Colin Chapman, guest helm on 363 “Hat Trick” third. Race 9 went to Nick Walsh, with Ewen Barry again second and Colin Chapman again third. The final Race 10 onslaught, (everyone was shattered by now), was won by Davy O’Connell, bringing his tally of wins to 4 in the event. Second, again, was Ewen Barry and third, again, was Colin Chapman.

Overall, although Davy O’Connell had 4 wins, he had too many umpteenths to count, so had to settle for third. The more consistent Ewen Barry and newcomer, Nick Walsh were equal on points after discards but, Nick’s 3 bullets over Ewen’s single win, gave him the title.

Ironically, 2001 Champion, Davy O’Connell, won the title at St Mawes without a single bullet yet in 2002, 4 of them weren’t enough!

Overall Results: