18ft Skiff UK Grand Prix Series at Grafham Water Sailing Club
by Tom Hill 10 Aug 2015 22:01 BST
8-9 August 2015
18ft Skiff UK Grand Prix Series at Grafham © Bill Brigden
The fleet travelled to Grafham Water Sailing Club this weekend for Round 2 of the UK Grand Prix Series. Both days were forecast to be light winds, so all the small rigs stayed very much in their bags.
After a brief postponement to wait for the wind to settle down, the skiffs launched to get racing underway. The score line for the day would tell the tale of a dominant Graham Bridle and his ChameleonI skiff team, but the patchy breeze made place changes inevitable. Some new teams had their turn at the front and all teams at some point found themselves fighting it out from the back. The end of the first day had ChameleonI in front with 3 bullets and The Rutland Chandlery Skiff Team in second place.
The second day was much more consistent with the breeze gusting up to 17 knots. The Rutland Chandlery Skiff Team took the first 2 races to bring them right back into contention after ChameleonI ran over the final windward mark to let them through and capsized over the line trying to gain the place back. Other teams enjoyed the breeze and the extra challenges it brought, sometimes ending up in a quick dip!
This brought the last race to a showdown between the two leading boats, where whoever won would take the win for the weekend. As with the whole weekend, the start was hotly contested and The Rutland Chandlery Team managed to hold the lane out to the left hand side of the course, whilst others tacked off into their own breeze. A big left shift made its way down the course, leaving ChameleonI and the rest of the fleet trailing The Rutland Chandlery Team around the first top mark. That was how the next 4 laps continued, leaving The Rutland Chandlery Skiff Team to take their third bullet of the day and, on countback, first place for the weekend event.
The fleet would like to thank Grafham Water Sailing Club for being so accommodating to the fleet and putting on some great racing. The Third and Final round of the UK Grand Prix Series and UK National Championships are to be held at Sandbanks in a months' time (5th and 6th September) with many teams in contention for both titles.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 30 | Tom Hill | Mark Kudslinky & Miguel Andrew | Rutland Sailing Club | 2 | 2 | ‑3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 2nd | 91 | Graham Bridle | Eddie Bridle & Tom Clayton | Brightlingsea Sailing Club | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑2 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 3rd | 29 | Alasdair York | Scott Bonner & Mark Sewell | Bowmoor Sailing Club | 4 | 3 | 4 | (DNC) | 3 | 3 | 17 |
| 4th | 16 | Alex Lewin | Harry Wilson & Daniel Goodman | Datchet Water Sailing Club | 3 | 4 | 2 | (DNC) | 4 | DNF | 18 |