National 12 Open at Yeadon Sailing Club

Close, light airs racing in the Yeadon National 12 open © Charles Hurford

Light and changeable south-easterly winds greeted the helms and crews of a dozen National 12's who gathered at Yeadon Tarn last Sunday. Three trophies were being raced for – the local Tarn Trophy, the ANYEC Trophy and the 'Witchcraft Bailer' Trophy for Vintage boats.

The fleet was dominated by vintage, clinker-built boats, eight in all, ranging from Ian and Margaret Purkis' Proctor Mk4A 'My Little Margie' built in 1957, through to a modified Starfish design 'Starbuck' built in 1966 and recently renovated by local sailmaker and ex-Merlin sailor, Peter Robinson. In addition there were three Admiral's Cup designs – a Crusader, Crusader 88, and a Baggy Trousers with one double-bottomed Feeling Foolish design, 'Out of the Blue', making up the numbers.

Race 1: After a clean start, the fleet soon found themselves rafted up at the windward mark as the wind shifted more easterly and the onshore trees cast a large wind-shadow over the south-east corner of the Tarn. Eventually three boats managed to break clear - Philip David and Emma Hampshire in their Feeling Foolish N3499, Howard Chadwick and Helen Nicholson in their vintage Starfish 'Triada' N2266 and John and Alison Cheetham in their Crusader N3209 'Rebel'. Despite several challenges to the leaders from Brian Kitchen and Olivia Stodiek in their beautifully restored Chimp N1657 'Just Lucky', the leading three held their positions to finish in that order

Philip David and Emma Hampshire win the Yeadon National 12 open - photo © Charles Hurford

Race 2: Saw Chadwick and Nicholson last across the line – an unusual position for them. However they quickly made their way through the fleet which again suffered another major traffic jam at the windward mark. After much place-changing it was David and Hampshire who again took the gun, closely followed by Team Cheetham with the vintage Starfish 'Triada', close behind. Unfortunately, the Feeling Foolish had been involved in an incident on the water which led to them having to retire, which meant that Angus Beyts and his local crew Gail Kaye, sailing N1833 'Water Nymph' a Mark 9 design from 1960, who had sailed an exceptional race, made it into third place.

Howard Chadwick & Helen Nicholson finish as 1st Vintage boat during the Yeadon National 12 open - photo © Charles Hurford

Race 3: With a further change of course to try and avoid the wind shadows now affecting the north-east corner of the lake, the fleet was once again led by the same three 12's only this time two other vintage boats – both Starfish designs – N2335 'Saskia', sailed by Tim Gatti and Gill Bilton and N2345 'Bakewell Tart' with Brian Herring and Ros Stevenson, joined the leading group and built up an unassailable lead over the remainder of the fleet.

4 Modern and Vintage designs battle it out during the Yeadon National 12 open - photo © Charles Hurford

At the prizegiving, Philip David and Emma Hampshire were awarded both the Tarn Trophy and the ANEYC Trophy as overall winners of the event. John and Alison Cheetham were second overall and Howard Chadwick and Helen Nicholson finished in third place and were first Vintage boat. They were also awarded the Witchcraft Bailer Trophy for their overall win in the 2014 Vintage Series.

Many thanks to all at Yeadon Sailing Club for hosting an extremely well-run event despite the tricky weather conditions and to all those competitors – some travelling from as far away as Scotland and Bristol, who took part. We look forward to seeing you back again in 2015.

Overall Results: