Noble Marine Musto Skiff Nationals at Highcliffe Sailing Club

by Jamie Hilton & Tom Wright 19 Jun 2013 10:30 BST 13-16 June 2013

The Noble Marine Musto Performance Skiff National Championships saw a 40 strong fleet enjoying fantastic conditions off Highcliffe Sailing Club from 13th - 16th June.

The championships started with a postponement then a cancellation of racing for the day due to high winds.

With the competitors eager to make up for having lost the first day due to strong winds. Four races were sailed on Friday in a westerly 10-14 kts with glorious sunshine and a healthy swell entering the Western Solent.

In Race 1, Ian Martin led the fleet in from the right hand side, making the most of the shifts and best avoiding the flooding tide. In close pursuit was Bruce Keen, Andy Rice, Dan Henderson and Richard Stenhouse. A close race ensued with Keen taking the win from Henderson and Rice with Martin capsizing on the line to let Stenhouse through for 4th.

Race 2 got away clear in a building breeze with the majority of the boats on the left doing very well, but it was Dave Poston who led round the top mark having come up the middle of the beat. Keen however, showed superior boat speed downwind and came from 4th to lead round the leeward mark, eventually taking the win from Poston, with Jamie Hilton in 3rd.

Race 3 got away in brilliant sunshine and the wind backing slightly. Tom Wright took a healthy lead at the end of the first beat with Dave Poston continuing to show amazing speed upwind to round second ahead of Keen. And so it continued until the final downwind with Keen again demonstrating his downwind speed to come through from 3rd to take the win.

The fourth race was subject to a general recall, but once in progress it was UK class chairman, Jon Simpson, coming in from ringing the bell in the top right corner to round first from Jamie Hilton. Hilton gybed early and this allowed him to lead round the leeward gate with Keen and Henderson close behind. While Hilton and Keen went left up the beat, Henderson showed how it was the right that would pay taking the lead which he held on to until the finish. Keen took second and Hilton third.

Day three was greeted with strong winds and rough sea conditions. Principal race officer, Paul Walker, had no hesitation in postponing all racing for the day, which allowed the class to compete in a round of crazy golf!

The final day brought an early start along with a moderate breeze for the first race. Wind shifts, wind pressure and tides contributed to make for a difficult first leg as the majority of the fleet headed inshore to avoid the tide whist others sailed out to sea hoping for stronger breeze. There was little difference between these two tactics, making for a congested mark rounding.

Ben Schooling showed good pace throughout the race finishing 1st followed by Bruce Keen and Alistair Conn.

With the wind forecast to drop, the second race started with half the fleet heading out into the tide for the breeze. Rick Perkins sprinted up the race course take a clear lead before sailing into tricky shifts, strong tides and the tale end of the Contender fleet who had started 6 minutes previously allowing the others to catch. It was a close matched race with positions constantly changing towards the windward mark. A tactical downwind leg saw Henderson gybing across the race course to cover Keen allowing Wright to sail in clear air. Wright took the win followed by Henderson with Stenhouse in 3rd.

In shifting conditions, the race management team managed to keep calm to get the fleet away on the third attempt following a general recall and an abandoned start.

The final race got underway with Henderson attacking very aggressively and pushing Keen out from the starboard end of the line created pressure for the overall title. As the wind dropped Sam Barker raced an excellent second lap finishing just behind Henderson but Keen had pulled through to take 3rd and with this secured the 2013 title.

The UK National Championship 2013 was awarded to Bruce Keen, Dan Henderson finishing 2nd and Tom Wright 3rd.

A big thank you to Highcliffe Sailing Club's Paul and Sue Walker, Simon Mussell and their team who put on some superb sailing and entertained the fleet with some great socials.

The class are very grateful for Phil Kilburn and Noble Marine Insurance for their sponsorship support and to Musto and Harken UK for their continued class support.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Name	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Pts
1st	469	Bruce Keen	Stokes Bay	1	1	1	2	2	‑5	4	11
2nd	482	Dan Henderson	Stokes Bay	2	‑6	4	1	5	2	1	15
3rd	432	Tom Wright	Stokes Bay	‑16	8	3	7	4	1	5	28
4th	474	Alistair Conn	Derwent	‑10	4	6	5	3	7	6	31
5th	444	Jamie Hilton	Datchet Water	9	3	5	3	6	‑17	12	38
6th	442	Richard Stenhouse	Rutland	4	12	‑13	4	13	3	7	43
7th	291	Ben Schooling	Datchet Water	11	15	‑23	8	1	13	3	51
8th	364	Andy Rice	Stokes Bay	3	13	10	6	10	16	‑17	58
9th	324	Dave Poston	Datchet Water	5	2	2	15	16	23	‑28	63
10th	483	John Evans	Derwent	7	‑20	8	10	7	15	18	65
11th	305	Richard Pelley	Stokes Bay	8	10	11	9	14	‑18	14	66
12th	97	Gavin Brewer	Stokes Bay	‑24	7	14	18	15	10	11	75
13th	130	Sam Barker	Castle Cove	‑34	30	19	11	11	12	2	85
14th	394	Nigel Warbank	Lymington	15	‑25	9	16	24	9	13	86
15th	168	Dan Trotter	DR SC	‑25	19	7	14	8	20	22	90
16th	113	Edward Wilkinson	Stokes Bay	19	16	20	12	‑25	14	10	91
17th	467	Luke Draper	King George	12	24	‑25	25	9	8	15	93
18th	487	Rick Perkins	MPSCA	13	28	21	22.5	12	4	(BFD)	100.5
19th	373	Paul Molesworth	Datchet Water	21	14	12	17	17	26	‑30	107
20th	419	Richard Smith	Staines	23	9	16	20	18	‑31	24	110
21st	160	Jon Simpson	Black Water	22	5	15	13	22	(DNC)	DNC	118
22nd	265	Alex Knight	Castle Cove	20	23	24	24	‑28	19	9	119
23rd	456	Sergei Samus	Datchet Water	18	17	17	19	27	24	‑29	122
24th	333	Tim Chapman	Rutland	14	22	18	22.5	21	‑28	25	122.5
25th	138	Harry Gozell	Dabchicks	29	21	26	21	‑32	21	16	134
26th	297	Gavin Page	Dabchicks	26	‑31	22	30	31	11	20	140
27th	186	James Sainsbury	Rutland	17	18	31	28	20	‑32	26	140
28th	260	Mark Cooper	Datchet Water	‑30	26	29	29	19	25	21	149
29th	367	Iain Morton	Chanonry SC	(DNC)	OCS	33	35	29	6	8	152
30th	283	Mick Keates	King George	27	29	27	‑33	26	33	32	174
31st	202	Nick Grace	Castle Cove	‑35	33	28	27	34	30	23	175
32nd	178	Ian Marshall	Oxford	28	‑36	34	32	30	22	31	177
33rd	294	Tom Conway	Derwent	32	34	‑35	31	33	29	27	186
34th	315	Aaron Barden	Datchet Water	(DNC)	27	30	26	23	DNC	DNC	188
35th	355	Nick Logan	Rutland	(DNC)	11	DNF	DNC	39	36	35	203
36th	287	Martin Keegan	Derwent	33	35	32	34	36	‑37	34	204
37th	289	Andrew Whittle	Black Water	(DNC)	32	DNF	DNC	35	27	33	209
38th	351	Ian Martin	Datchet Water	6	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	211
39th	143	Alex Adams	Castle Cove	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	37	34	19	213
40th	64	J Rickads		31	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	38	35	DNC	227