K6 National Championships at Royal Lymington Yacht Club

Dave Hall, June Baker and Alice Masterman win the K6 National Championships at Royal Lymington © Heather Chipperfield

Debbie Jarvis, Heather Chipperfield and Tracey Covell at the K6 National Championships at Royal Lymington © Aimee Harper

The 2016 K6 Championship was held out of the Royal Lymington Yacht club over the 16th -18th September.

The fleet were greeted on day one by a strong and gusty North Westerly breeze with a little bit of sunshine. Sailing to the East of the river mouth in the Solent a course was set that crossed the very strong outgoing tide. PRO Malcom Mckeag offset the marks to compensate the current which made for some interesting racing and a very different approach to tactics.

The team in Airshock with their new found speed took the first race of the day. After an incident-filled second race (various boats misjudging the current and finding that buoy lines catch keels very easily) Eric - sailed by Martin Wedge and Scott Allen broke away and took the gun. The rest of the fleet followed closely behind with the all-girl team helmed by Debbie Jarvis coming in second.

Day two was almost a carbon copy of day one in wind and current direction. The strength of the wind was variable between 12 and 20 knots which along with the shifts meant it was snakes and ladders racing. The following days forecast was looking very light so it was decided to get an extra race in making four in one day. Eric started as they had ended the previous day and took the first race.

The team of Dave Hall, June Baker & Alice Masterman then took the second race of the day and followed it up with a second and another first which left them at the top of the leader board at the end of the day. Martin and Scott did not quite have the consistency through the day and allowed Neil Davison, Andrew Yonge & Julie Willis in Airshok to get another first and put them at second place.

The final day of the championship dawned and true to the forecast there was no wind. After a wait to see if any sensible wind might appear it was decided that there would be no more racing leaving the team of Dave, June and Alice 2016 Champions.

Dave Hall, June Baker and Alice Masterman win the K6 National Championships at Royal Lymington - photo © Aimee Harper

A big thank you to RLYC who looked after the fleet both on the water, on the dock and on the shore.

Overall Results:

Debbie Jarvis, Heather Chipperfield and Tracey Covell at the K6 National Championships at Royal Lymington - photo © Aimee Harper