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Musto 2023 HPX LEADERBOARD

Shadow Catamaran National Championship at Gurnard Sailing Club

by Peter Newlands 28 Jun 2016 15:05 BST 17-19 June 2016
Shadow Nationals at Gurnard © Pete French

Held at friendly Gurnard Sailing Club on the Solent (the sunset side of Cowes) from 17th to 19th June.

Several of the 20 local regulars were unable to attend (four being professional sailors away on duty, others being in Europe or pregnant or both and having NHS operations – poor excuses really!) nevertheless 12 local Shadow sailors entered plus Graham from Eastbourne helped out and Bjorn Singer from Glasgow brought his cat down from Loch Lomond to play.

Race officer Steve Cole's midday briefing was held during a torrential downpour on Friday then two races were held in light shifty conditions.

Defending national champion Paul Tanner just off the plane from the Middle East showed well but the tone was set by hopefuls Paul Bowen and Robin Leather with a win each.

Two of three scheduled races were held in difficult light conditions on Saturday. Paul and Robin were pushed hard by everybody (including themselves) and especially the perennially cheerful Carl Blenkinsop and his apprentice Sean Kellett. These four usually emerged clear ahead of the chasing pack who were all exchanging places quite evenly. Joyce Martin assisted Anne Mormon and Steve Cole in the race boat and the two rib crews were particularly appreciated by Pete Newlands.

So it was all down to Sunday when the breeze came in and three absorbing high speed races were conducted in beautiful Thorness Bay. Ian Moore had returned from the almost Bermuda race and was mixing it with the famous front four until a startline incident caused his retirement in the last race. Newbies John Welch and Nigel Harley were showing great improvement, well in contention with class stalwarts Mark Jenkinson, Paul Tanner, Pete Bowen and Martin Scott.

Inevitably it all came down to the last lap of the final race when Paul managed to slip past Robin and hold him off to the finish for a very narrow single point victory. Third was Carl ahead of Sean.

Tremendous racing fun was had by all competitors with lessons learnt and excellent hospitality by Gurnard SC. Most Shadows sported a large M dedicated to fond memories of our friend Mike Martin.

The 2017 Nationals are proposed for somewhere in the Solent.

Overall Results:

PosSail NoHelmR1R2R3R4R5R6 R7Pts
166P Bowen12212118
285R Leather21131229
364C Blenkinsop345233419
457S Kellett533644322
548P Newlands76DNF467838
684M Jenkinson856888641
740M Scott11710576742
868P Tanner49RAF91010547
943J Welch984712DNF949
1054Pete Bowen6108RAF991052
1144I MooreDNSDNSDNSDNS55DNF62
1212Bjorn10117101312DNF63
1345N Harley12DNFDNSDNS11111171