Sharpie National Championships at Wells Sailing Club
by Martin Read 7 Jun 2005 08:33 BST
Action from the British Sharpie Championship at Wells Sailing Club © Martin Read
27 sharpies, many dating back to the 1930s competed for the National Championships in Holkham Bay last week. It was good to see veterans of the class were joined by at least 8 boats with young crews. Also welcome were three of the top boats from a strong Dutch fleet.
Saturdays racing was abandoned in force 6/7 winds which broke the mast of Rockabye (J.Case)
Race 1 was a battle between ex champion Paddy Spink (Rakker)and his daughter Ros (Anna Marie). In this case experience won ! Race 2 was marred by a huge wind shift seconds before the start. John Gibbs (Windspeil) crewed by Roger Richardson took full advantage to win by a convincing margin from Ros Spink.
At this point the reigning champions Chris and Tim Gibbs (Maid of Arnhem) were lying 4th overall but they finished with a flourish winning 2 of the last three races.
Heavy seas on the return to harbour saw Martin Read (Poelsnip) part company with his boat on the bar. His son Oliver managed to recover the situation plucking his rather wet and embarrassed father from the surf.
Richard Cracknell was winning the championship before many of the competitors were born. Sailing Madrigal, crewed by Gemma Nye, Richard was a popular winner of Race 3.
The final race saw James Case leading the field in his attempt to steal second place overall. With force 4 Northerlies there was a big sea and exciting sailing conditions. On the last leg he was overtaken by Chris Gibbs and Arnold Mulderij . He had to settle for 3rd in the championship but this was an outstanding performance considering he was on his 3rd mast of the week.
It was a tribute to all competitors that in difficult seas all competitors were racing right to the end of the series.
Overall Results:
1st Chris Gibbs & Tim Gibbs, Maid of Arnhem, GBR 77 (Wells Sailing Club) 3 2 1 1, 7pts
2nd Martin Read & Oliver Read, Poelsnip, GBR 135 (Wells Sailing Club) 4 4 4 4, 16pts
3rd James Case & Jimmy Goodle, Rockabye, GBR 12 (Wells Sailing Club) 9 3 2 4, 18pts
4th Ros Spink & Mark Healing, Anna Marie, GBR 9 (Brancaster SSC) 2 2 7 10, 21pts
5th Arnold Mulderij & Marcel Veriaan, Fuut, NED 226 (Holland) 8 7 6 2, 23pts