Spitfire National Championships at Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club

Gary Smith and Lynn Whitmore during the Spitfire nationals at Eastbourne © Ricky Whitmore

Jacky Thomas and Mandy Batchelor during the Spitfire nationals at Eastbourne © Ricky Whitmore

Last weekend Eastbourne hosted the Spitfire National Championships and welcomed the 16 competitors with ideal sailing conditions and sunshine on the Friday. The first two races took place in a steady force 3 and a flat sea.

After a cramped start with the fleet gathering around the committee boat, Gary Smith and Lynn Whitmore (Eastbourne Sovereign) set the pace from the off followed closely by Paul Limpus and Emma Boniface (Pevensey Bay) and Dave Vercoe and Carole Whitcher (Eastbourne Sovereign). However, after a tight battle Gary and Lynn managed to gain a 1st place after a superb leeward mark rounding left Paul to fend off Dave to claim 2nd.

The second race started cleanly with Dave and Carole taking the lead to the 1st mark. Gary and Lynn managed to hold off Paul and Emma downwind and made up ground on Dave on the second lap. A quick hoist at the top mark saw Gary and Lynn take the lead giving them a second 1st place and the overnight lead with Dave and Paul joint second. New comers to the fleet Jacky Thomas and Mandy Batchelor were the only casualties of the day after a gust at the windward mark left them in the water with a Jacky and Mandy shape hole in the main.

After an overnight sail repair by the overnight leader, Gary Smith at Smith Covers, the entire fleet headed back out in to a gusty force 4. The 1st race of the day saw close racing throughout the fleet. While Gary and Paul lead, Dave was left to defend 3rd place from Clinton Turner and Lee Wood (Island YC). However a tactical mistake saw Dave have to put an extra two tacks in before the finish allowing Clinton and Lee to gain 3rd place, young boys Patrick Crouch and Alex Murphy (Minnis Bay) 4th place, Ricky Whitmore and Matt 'the cat' China 5th and Harrison Bassett and Mark Smith 6th leaving Dave to claim 7th.

The second race of the day saw Ricky and Matt take a risky port start. After ducking the fleet they reached the 1st mark just behind Gary and Lynn. However after a small collision with Gary, Ricky was left to do penalty turns allowing Paul and Dave back through to their normal second and third places. Clinton and Lee along with Harrison and Mark managed to storm past Ricky and Matt down wind and held them off to the last mark. However, a quick mark rounding saw Harrison crack under pressure and forget to hook on putting him in the drink, leaving Ricky and Matt to claim a lucky 5th and Clinton and Lee 4th. At the front of the fleet Gary managed to keep his run of 1st by beating Paul in 2nd and Dave in 3rd.

The last race of the day saw Harrison’s bad luck continue after a ripped spinnaker saw them retire early. Gary continued his winning streak leaving Paul with 2nd place and Dave with 3rd.

With the title of National Champion up for grabs the fleet headed out to the race course in light winds. After a small delay while the wind god answered the race offers pleas the race got underway. However a wind shift saw Jacky and Mandy take the lead and reach to the 1st mark. Unfortunately their fame was short lived as the race was abandoned and restarted. Paul and Emma tried their best to ruin Gary’s winning streak with it going down to the line. The finish was so close the rest of the fleet was concentrating on the outcome instead of their race. However Gary kept his winning position by only 3 seconds.

Gary and Lynn then managed to do what every sailor dreams of, to leave the fleet afloat and sail ashore as National Champions with a race to spare. This left Dave and Paul fighting for the last opportunity to finish first. However Ricky and Matt aimed to ruin their plans by achieving the port flyer of the season and rounding the first mark 100 yards in front of the fleet. However the immense speed of Paul and Emma and Dave and Carole downwind saw them quickly move backwards down the fleet. The light winds saw Clinton and Harrison catch Ricky upwind and all looked lost. However a brave tactical move by Ricky saw him take the opposite side of the course on the last run and finish in third place with Harrison and Mark pipping Clinton and Lee to the line all within 30 seconds of each other.

Gary Smith and Lynn Whitmore took the title and thanked everyone at Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club for their hard work and support. Eastbourne once again provided a warm welcome and first class racing and the thanks of the Spitfire class goes to the club after what proved to be a fantastic and memorable championships.

Overall Results: