UK Cherub Nationals at Babbacombe Corinthian Sailing Club

Andrew & Jill Peters win the Cherub nationals at Babbacombe © Tom Gruitt / www.tom-gruitt.co.uk

The winning '97 rules boat, Tim & Kate Noyce at the Cherub nationals © Tom Gruitt / www.tom-gruitt.co.uk

Twenty-five Cherubs descended the hill to Babbacombe to a warm welcome from the club and the weather. Saturday's practice day promised great things with a firm, if directionally inconsistent, gusty breeze.

Sunday lived up to expectations. Near perfect conditions saw 3 closely fought races. The breeze increased with some squally showers during the third race and the changes in the gusts kept everyone on their toes. At the top of the fleet a couple of boats opted to go and fix some minor teething problems, banking on a discard. Perhaps a move they'd come to regret...?

Meanwhile the '97 rules boats, in particular Tim and Kate Noyce in the beautifully renovated Comfortably Numb and Nick and Jo in Madge and Ade and Joe in Sweet Dreamzzz, enjoyed the wind and waves.

Some start line drama saw the coming together of Shiny and Marmite resulting in Paul Clements ultimately receiving the Davy prize for the "best" capsize of the event.

Phil and Sarah Kirk showed little sign of lack of recent practice, consistently challenging the leaders. The legendary Suicide Blonde in new colours and in the hands of Jonny and Alex Harris showed good speed.

Following rumours that Graham and Eddie Bridle had got Riot Van flying there was speculation as to whether the foils would be in use during the racing. That was soon quashed as the additional foil parted company from the rest of the boat and could not be found despite Nigel's diving equipment.

At the end of day one Paul and Peter Jenkins in Cool Beans were lying in 1st, Paul Croote and Ed Higham in Marmite in 2nd and Dean Ralph and Simon Jones in Eleanor in 3rd.

With most crews feeling they had had a good workout, a curry was the order of the day following the daily prize giving.

Day 2 dawned looking significantly lacking in the wind department. After a drift around while the race committee tried their best to ascertain which direction the little breeze there was was coming from, a postponement for lunch was called. But the wind decided not to make much of an appearance all afternoon calling for some single-handing by the smaller members of the fleet.

The evening's beach BBQ was a magnificent spread and we were joined by some former (not old!) cherubbists from around the corner in Torbay, keen to join in the fun. Perhaps that was the reason that the beer supply ran dry and there was a dash to the nearest supplier for more.

Day 3 looked even less exciting. Beautiful sunshine, but not enough breeze to encourage even the most impatient and frustrated to leave the shore, unless you count paddling de-rigged Picos. A day for diving and swimming, and not in the traditional Cherub sense.

Finally on day 4 there seemed to be some semblance of a gentle breeze. The racing got under way with most crews on the foredeck and wishing for something stronger to blow the hangovers away. Newbies Mark and Alex Slatter found some good form in Sod's Law (formerly Spanish Inquisition) and John Hamilton and Little Dan (sorry) made the most of their light weight and boat speed.

Just as the leaders finished, the wind vanished and went for a siesta. We waited. And waited. Time was running out. Drifting in the sun soon turned to diving in, swimming and the involuntary sharing of rancid shellfish. And then the club ribs obligingly delivered warm pasties to those who shouted loudest. Finally the sea breeze filled in. Hope was rekindled for those in need of a discard that the all-important 6th race would happen. Despite a fine performance by Clive and Alex Everest in A&E and a bullet in the final race for Paul and Peter Jenkins, it was Andy and Jill Peters who sneaked through to take the championship by 2 points from Cool Beans who were just 1 point ahead of A&E. Tim and Kate Noyce had a good final day to take the '97 rules trophy from Nick and Jo.

And so to the prize-giving. Eventually. After the super-keen and apparently tireless younger members of the fleet had finished blasting. Another superb evening at the club and after dinner the traditional cherub prizes were presented. Suicide Blonde was awarded the Phoenix for best restoration and the DiggeriDon't (for promising so much, but delivering so little) went to the Bridles for getting us all excited about foiling before promptly losing it. The Cherub Prix D'Elegance was awarded to Roland and Hayley Trim for their beautiful new home built boat Lady Virginia of Keynsham (Poppy for short). Having passed on his drinking games expertise, Paul Clements should have received the spanking paddle, but in his absence Tom Hole accepted it for his admirable demonstration of the effects of said games. This was presented in the traditional toe-touching manner using a cheese board kindly loaned by the club.

Overall, a fantastic nationals. Huge thanks to Babbacombe CSC for their warm hospitality.

Overall Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the Cherub nationals then enter your Gear Guide information here

Cherub nationals at Babbacombe - photo © Tom Gruitt / www.tom-gruitt.co.uk