D-One National Championships at Lymington Town Sailing Club

D-One nationals at Lymington © Sue Cobb

D-One nationals at Lymington © Sue Cobb

Charlie Cumbley wins

The 2012 D-One Nationals were held at Lymington Town Sailing club, over the weekend of 8/9th September. Sailors arrived on Friday morning for a day of training held by Nick Craig in brilliant sunshine and a light sea breeze.

Day One

With a light un-sailable south easterly gradient breeze, the race team held the boats ashore waiting for the sea breeze to kick in. This was possibly a good thing as a fair few were looking a little worse for wear after a warm up night in the club with a local band and good food! As the wind gradually clocked around, AP was lowered for a 2pm start. Race 1 was sailed in 7 kts south west with the tide pushing east. Charlie Cumbley, Nick Simmons and Giles Chipperfield started well and made use of the weaker tide inshore rounding the top mark in 1,2,3. At the bottom mark, Simmons and Chipperfield had engaged in a LTSC battle ending in Simmons doing spins and allowing Giles to get through into second; these positions held until the finish. With some slick planning the race team quickly started Race 2, making good use of the eventually dying wind. Matt Howard, Cumbley, Charlie Chandler, Simmons and Chipperfield were all racing closely, with Howard showing the best speed in these light conditions. Simmons took a gamble in the second beat and headed offshore for more wind in a slacking tide leaving Cumbley, Chandler and Chipperfield fighting for 3rd place. Cumbley had the better pace downwind and clinched 3rd.

The club had organised a sailor's supper and Gavin Wyatt to play in the club for Saturday night's festivities. A good time was had by all especially the Tewkesbury boys who were slightly quieter than the norm come Sunday morning for an 8.30 launch, to make up for the missed races on Saturday.

Day Two

A breezy south westerly was promised but it took until 10:30 for it to arrive. Once the direction had steadied and built in strength to 8kts, the race officer sent the boats off. Today the tide would be running east all day and whilst the wind was light, it was not the day to be shy of the line. A new day and some new faces at the front of the fleet; Robin Foster-Taylor and Nev Herbert were both sailing well, with Matt Howard taking the win in Race 1.

Race 2 and the wind had picked up to 12 kts, gusting 15, which led to some fantastic sailing. Matt Howard was flying again with local boys Dave Gorringe and Giles Chipperfield chasing hard behind to take 2nd and 3rd. By the start of Race 3 we were in for some full on D-One conditions. A nice bit of Solent chop and 20kts; its fair to say the pond sailors looked a little frightened! Gorringe was in his element now and would take some stopping. In Race 5 he took the win ahead of Matt Howard and Giles. Race 6 was skipped leaving the brutal double points and non-discardable Race 7. Cumbley, Howard, Gorringe and Keith Willis had the pace but could they keep it upright and not get stuck in weed? It's fair to say NO! Most had a swim at some stage, with Matt unfortunately slipping down the pack when he got snarled up in a load of weed. Gorringe and Cumbley were looking good for 1,2 but ditched it in on the final gybe. Willis took on the challenge of putting this race to bed but failed at the final hurdle when the kite halyard got wrapped around the bow. Now it was down to Simmons. Screaming down the final leg, all looked good until a big gust send him off towards Cowes. Cumbley and Gorringe righted quickly taking 1,2 and Simmons 3rd.

After the discard came into play and the points were added up, the win went to Charlie Cumbley, second to Matt Howard and third to Dave Gorringe. Congratulations to Charlie and many thanks to the race team, LTSC and Suntouched Sailboats who all played a huge part in making this a really successful weekend. The club really did pull out all the stops and didn't put a foot wrong, on or off the water. The party atmosphere was building during the course of the week-end and this Nationals will be long remembered by everyone lucky enough to have been there. Next to Italy: Gold Cup in Alassio. Don't forget your cravats!

Overall Results: