National 18 British and Irish Championships at West Mersea Yacht Club

by Jeremy Vines 27 Jul 2018 13:05 BST 15-20 July 2018

The National 18s were out in force on the wide Blackwater estuary during the week of 15th to 20th July. Winds were in the south and were reinforced by sea breezes to a steady force 3 to 5. Add plenty of sunshine and this was the recipe for great sailing each day. Hosted in splendid style by West Mersea Yacht Club and Dabchicks Sailing Club, with considerable input from Blackwater SC, plus local expert Paul Jackson as Race Officer, some were saying it was the best event ever.

Entries came from England, Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man and France. Predominantly they were Morrison 'Ultras', but there were also a number of 'Ultimates' which raced in a separate fleet. Noticeable this year was an increase in family crews.

On the water there were three back-to-back races a day over four days, making 12 good races in all. Courses were windward/leeward leading to much close and tactical sailing and place changing both upwind and downwind. Early on and with several first places, it seemed that 'Shark Too' (Charlo Dwyer) would come out on top. However, 'Second Wife' (Tom Crosbie) took charge in the latter races. They ended equal on points overall, but the Crosbies took the major trophy by two points when the worst two results were discarded. Third was another Irish boat 'Fifty Shades' (Nick Walsh) and fourth a Scottish entry 'Two and half men' (Richard and Stuart Urquhart).

It was noticeable that the English are closing the gap with two boats taking several top three places and 'Hurricane' (Ollie Houseman) taking sixth place overall.

The 'Ultimate' prize was won by Crossfire (Antony Ellis) from the Isle of Man in fine style crewed by his son Nickolas who, at 11 years old, was much the youngest competitor.

Ashore there was abundant night life with variously oysters, belly dancers from Southend, musicians from Mersea Island, the 80th Anniversary Dinner and two jolly sing songs ending in traditional style with Tom Dwyer's rendition of 'Paddy McGinty's Goat'.

Thank you West Mersea. Please can we come again?

Further information about the National 18 British and Irish Championship and the class's 80th Anniversary celebrations can be found at www.national18.com or by emailing

Ultra Class:
If you finished in the top ten at the National 18 nationals then enter your Gear Guide information here

Pos	Boat Name	Country	Sail No	Club	Helm	Crew	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	Pts
1st	Second Wife	IRL	417	Royal Cork YC	Tom CROSBIE	Chloe CROSBIE	Patrick CROSBIE	1	2	2	-6	4	3	1	2	1	1	4	-6	21
2nd	Shark Eleven	IRL	418	Royal Cork Yacht Club	Charlo DWYER	Johnny DURCAN	Robbie ENGLISH	-5	3	1	1	1	-5	3	4	2	3	3	2	23
3rd	Fifty Shades	IRL	405	Royal Cork Yacht Club	Nick WALSH	Rob BROWNLOW	Eddie RICE	4	4	-8	2	-5	2	5	1	5	4	1	1	29
4th	Two and half men	GBR	420	Royal Findhorn Yacht Club	Stuart URQUHART	Richard URQUHART	Martin CRUDEN	2	1	(OCS)	5	2	1	6	5	7	5	-8	3	37
5th	Aquadisiacs	IRL	404	Royal Cork Yacht Club	Colin CHAPMAN	Morgan O'SULLIVAN	James MCCAN	3	-8	(OCS)	4	3	4	2	6	3	8	2	5	40
6th	Hurricane	GBR	401	Tamesis	Ollie HOUSEMAN	Jeremy VINES	Steve Watton	-9	6	4	3	7	-9	8	9	8	2	5	4	56
7th	Second Chance	GBR	403	Blackwater Sailing Club	Bryan SARGEANT	Jack GROGAN	Will Sargeant	(DNF)	7	3	8	11	(DSQ)	4	3	4	6	11	8	65
8th	Puss n’Boot	IRL	402	Royal Cork YC	Tom DWYER	Peter O'DONOVAN		(OCS)	5	6	(OCS)	6	7	7	11	6	9	9	11	77
9th	Panther	GBR	406	Blackwater SC	Jessica BERNEY	Gregor DAVIDSON	Hugo Berney	6	9	5	(OCS)	8	6	9	7	10	11	10	-14	81
10th	The Shadow	GBR	412	Blackwater SC	Julian BERNEY	Maria RICHARDS	Graham Hoy	7	-10	9	10	9	8	-12	8	9	7	6	10	83
11th	SHUCK'EM	IRL	409		Jamie DWYER	Kieran DWYER		8	-12	7	9	10	10	10	-12	12	10	7	7	90
12th	Optimus Prime	GBR	421	Tamesis Club	Matthew JONES	Kaan YARGICI		10	13	10	7	12	11	11	-14	-15	13	13	9	109
13th	Highland Fling	GBR	413	Royal Findhorn Yacht Club	Kevin DAVIDSON	Claire LAURIE	Stephen Laurie	11	11	12	11	(RET)	(DNC)	13	13	11	15	14	13	124
14th	Odyssey	GBR	400	Blackwater Sailing Club	Steve PERKINS	Jack PERKINS	Perkins son	(DNF)	(DNC)	DNC	12	13	13	14	10	13	12	12	12	127
15th	Nimble	IRL	419	Royal Cork YC	Dave CLANCY	Deirdre TOBIN		12	14	11	13	14	12	-15	-15	14	14	15	15	134

Ultimate Class:

Pos	Boat Name	Country	Sail No	Club	Helm	Crew	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	Pts
1st	Crossfire	IOM	303	Isle of Man YC	Antony ELLIS	Stuart BREW	Nickolas ELLIS	-1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	-2	1	10
2nd	Muc Dhoo	GBR	346	Bough Beech SC	Trevor CHANTER	William CHANTER	Lucy SMITH	2	-3	2	2	2	2	2	2	-3	2	1	2	19
3rd	RAFFLES	IRL	352	Centre Nautique De St Pol	Mathieu PERETTI	Stephan PERETTI	Laura Peretti	3	2	3	3	3	3	(DNC)	(OCS)	2	DNC	DNC	DNC	31