Noble Marine Comet Trio Nationals at Exe Sailing Club - Overall

Noble Marine Comet Trio Nationals at Exe day 3 © Anthony Garret

Sponsored by Noble Marine.

Coming into the final day and the last two races. After managing to prise the sailors away from admiring Bob's new boat and his infamous bobble, the fleet were greeted with light winds but forecast to increasing steadily. It was all to play for at the top with three possible winners both with the new rigs and classic rigs.

Bob/Collette (only requiring one race win to secure victory), Andrew/ Caroline with Ade/Tracie all had great starts. Bob/Collette started to move rapidly off the start line, leaving Ade/Tracie in a wake of dirty air, they decided a tack was in order only to be faced with Simon/Nicky in White Lightening heading straight for them. Ade/Tracie attempted a last second tack which resulted in them touching White Lighting whilst on port tack, Ade/Tracie duly completed the 720 and now relied on anyone but Bob/Collette to secure a race win.

This was not to be the case and Bob/Collette sailed brilliantly into the distance to secure first place and therefore won the championship overall for the new rig. It is great to see to see a win for Bob/Collette in their brand new Peak Dinghies built boat. (Complete with Bob's Bobble!)

Race 2 - Ade/Tracie, with the wind increasing, lead from start to finish. Darren/Callum had their best result finishing second. Guy/Graham claimed there 2nd third position. This meant Ade/Tracie achieved second place overall, with Andrew/Caroline taking third place overall.

Equally, in the classic rigs, the competition was fierce. Richard/Carole achieved two great results and took overall victory. Closely followed by Simon/Veronique to take second place overall and third place overall went to David/Charlie. John/Matthew had their best result in race 2 on the last day with a fourth position and were the winners of the Peak Dinghies prize draw for a new North Sail jib.

Prize giving took place after a sumptuous afternoon tea kindly provided by the great team in the galley. At the prize giving, Bob gave thanked all those involved in with making the event such a success. Well done everyone. Fantastic sailing, brilliant weather, great social events and with superb on site support from everyone at the club.

From fabulous food - BBQ, three course meal, bacon butties, afternoon tea, drinks from the team behind the bar...I am sure some of us are going home slightly heavier!!

It is fair to say organising an event such as this takes time, effort and organisation. The whole event was superbly organised, everything from registration, briefings, trolley support, race organisation, rescue, the prizes and of course the fantastic mugs..... so a HUGE thank you to everyone that supported the event... you made everything seem so easy.

Comet Trio National 2018 New Rig
Winners: Bob and Collette Horlock
Second Place: Tracie and Adrian Padro
Third Place: Andrew and Caroline McAusland

Comet Trio Nationals 2018 Classic Rig
Winners: Richard Salliss and Carole Williams
Second Place: Simon Gregory and Veronique Hart
Third Place: David Talbot and Charlie Talbot

Ancient Mariner Trophy - New rig
Guy Farrant and Graham Sykes

Ancient Mariner Trophy - Classic rig
Keith and Hazel Lawson

Overall Results: