The Yachts and Yachting London Boat Show Pursuit Race

by Mark Jardine 15 Jan 2006 17:16 GMT

43 boats from 27 different classes made the journey to the Prince Albert Dock, just outside the ExCeL exhibition centre for the Yachts and Yachting London Boat Show Pursuit Race. Taxing conditions with fluky winds in parts of the course tested sailors from youth to international level.

The first boat off was the returning competitor Charlie Esse in his Optimist from the starting line, with the Lt. Commander of HMS Grafton firing the cannon. The course saw a initial windward up towards the City Airport runway and a short spinnaker reach across the dock and back down West, past HMS Grafton, under the footbridge to a leeward mark and back up through the start gate.

The leaders completed six rounds with drama right to the finish. The Merlin Rocket of Joe McLaughlin & Bryn Evans, had the lead going into the final seconds of the race, only to find a hole in the wind and watch helplessly as the Solo of Steve Denison crept past and took the winners gun. There was consolation for the Merlin Rocket class with second and a fourth overall together with fellow Rocketers, Rob Wilder and Tom McLaughlin enough to take the overall class trophy which will be proudly displayed at Tamesis Club.

The first under sixteen was Ben Palmer sailing his Topper just ahead of the Mirror sailed by Edward Fitzgerald & James Walker.

Many thanks to the Hayling Island Sailing Club Race Committee team of Paul Carpenter, Adam Carpenter, Alison & Martin Stainsby and Alison Johnson for running the racing so well. Also thanks must go to Paul Botterill of Barton Marine for bringing together the event on short notice. Yachts and Yachting Managing Director, John Heyes said during the prizegiving that sponsorship of the event would continue for 2007, with the perpetual trophies awarded ensuring this will be a continuing feature of the London Boat Show.

Overall Results:

1st Solo, 4327, Stephen Denison (Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club)
2nd Merlin Rocket, 3566, Joe McLaughlin & Bryn Evans (Tamesis Club)
3rd RS200, 751, Geoff Carveth & Emma Clarke (Hayling Island Sailing Club)
4th Merlin Rocket, 3656, Rob Wilder & Tom McLaughlin (Tamesis Club)

1st Class - Merlin Rockets

1st U16, Topper, 44584, Ben Palmer (Island Barn Sailing Club)
2nd U16, Mirror, 70361, Edward Fitzgerald & James Walker (Itchenor Sailing Club)

Full Results:

Pos	Class	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club
1	Solo	4327	Stephen Denison		Hollingworth Lake SC
2	Merlin Rocket	3566	Joe Mclaughlin	Bryn Evans	Tamesis Club
3	RS200	751	Geoff Carveth	Emma Clarke	Hayling Island SC
4	Merlin Rocket	3656	Rob Wilder	Tom Mclauglin	Tamesis Club
5	Snipe	29834	Mark Antonelli	Liz Crouch	Budworth SC
6	Solo	4215	Godfrey Clark
7	Comet	636	Ian Coppenhall		Hunts SC
8	Snipe	29411	Richard Lambert	Andrew Wibroe	Blue Circle SC
9	National 12	3481	David Wilkins	Suzi Sallis	Spinnaker SC
10	Comet	555	John R. Windibank		Chipstead SC
11	Enterprise	22975	Phil Kirk	James Askew
12	Topper	44584	Ben Palmer		Island Barn Reservoir SC
13	Mirror	70361	Edward Fitzgerald	James Wallace	Itchinor SC
14	Cadet	856	Joshua Pistol	Jamie Proffitt	Fishers Green SC
15	RS Vareo	261	Tim Greenwood		Bristol Corinthian YC
16	Enterprise	22102	Richard Pepperdine	Tom Key	Staunton Harold SC
17	Topper	45197	Andrew Brown		Budworth SC
18	Mirror	69776	Emma Barry	Martina Barry	Brightlingsea SC
19	Int. Canoe Classic	278	Simon Allen		Hayling Island SC
20	Optimist	5337	Charlie Esse		Royal Lymington YC
21	59er	90	Russell Smith	Paul Dorer	Bowmoor SC
22	RS300	456	Graham Cooper		Chew Valley Lake SC
23	Splash	2123	Jake Sheldlake		Hickling Broad SC
24	Comet Trio	365	David Talbot	Alison Spires	Hawley Lake
25	Hurricane 5.9	365	Mike Coulson	Viki Herbert – Coulson	Datchet Water SC
26	Hurricane 5.9	485	Philip Marks	Lucy Boneham
27	Tornado	418	Grant Piggott	Dan Hawkes	Western
28	Laser 4000	4052	Chris Gould	Jo Morrison	Island Barn Reservoir SC
29	Laser 5000	5272	Andrew Temple	Tim Seward	Broadstairs SC
30	Challenger	202	Judi Figgures		Grafham Sailability
31	29er	1114	Daniel Henderson	Bruce Spratt	Thorp Bay YC
32	RS600	942	Olly Straker		Western
33	29er	55	Henry Maxfield	Dicken Maclean	Hayling Island SC
34	Flash	834	Bradley Field		Benfleet YC
35	Challenger	257	Val Millward		Rutland Sailability
36	Shearwater	2005	Shaun Duen	Dion Duen	Felixstow Ferry SC
37	Tornado	369	Adam Piggott	Greg Windle	Western Sailing
38	Flash	811	Thomas Dring		Norfolk Punt Club
39	Laser Vortex	1160	Tony Coulson		Wilsonian SC
40	Laser Vortex	1013	Grahame Smith		Wilsonian SC
RTD	Cadet	8560	Billie Quinlan	Katherine Kimber
RTD	RS700	933	Matt Humphreys		Weston SC
RTD	29er XX	1	David Hall	Laura Sanders	Thorp Bay YC
RTD	National 12	3500	Nigel May	Hannah May	Notts County SC