Comet National Championship at Staunton Harold Sailing Club

by Dave Waymont 28 Aug 2018 11:35 BST 25-27 August 2018

Twenty-nine Comets took part in the 2018 Comet Class Association National Championships at Staunton Harold Sailing Club, Melbourne, Derbyshire on the 25th-27th August.

Day 1 saw a 10 knot North Westerly breeze which swung just before race 2 to Northerly. General recalls occurred on race 1 and race 3 for which the second start was under black flag.

Race 1 winner was Chris Hatton who beat the first mark leader Nigel Austin into second place.

The wind shifted in several directions moments before race 2 was due to start and led to some delay until it had settled to allow Race Officer, Howard Jones, to set a course. Race 2 was closely contested between John Blundell, Chris Hatton and Eddie Pope with all in the lead at some point. The race was won by Chris Hatton with Eddie Pope second.

The second start of race 3 was under black flag and Paul Williamson got a great start at the pin end of the line. The fleet was chaotic at the downwind mark as the second group of boats caught up with the leaders as they ran down to the mark. Eventual winner was Chris Hatton with Nigel Pepperdine in second.

Day 2 had a Southerly, gusty wind and race 4 winner Chris Hatton took the lead on the second beat from Bob Dodds who finished second.

The gusty and very wet conditions for race 5 caused several incidents at the marks with Peter Mountford and Paul Hinde needing to do turns in separate incidents. Chris Hatton was the race winner with Chris Blundell in second place.

The final race of day 2 saw John Blundell first to the windward mark with Chris Hatton second round the mark but Chris overtook John on the reach down towards the dam wall to take his familiar first place. Nigel Pepperdine was third.

Day 3 with a Westerly 12 knot wind started with John Blundell leading race 7 for the first lap until Chris Hatton took the better side of the reservoir on the second beat. What was now becoming the familiar first and second places were as before and the battle was for third spot. Steve Bellamy took this third place from Bob Dodds after battling it out on the last two beats.

The final race of day 3 saw a long beat set and with Chris Hatton in the lead, Bob Dodds, John Blundell, Eddie Pope, Paul Williamson and Nigel Pepperdine battled for second place. John Blundell eventually took second place but the fight within the group slowed them down and Michael Ettershank, who was in sixth place, moved up, took and held onto third place on the last beat.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Pts
1st	838	Chris Hatton	Bowmoor SC	‑1	‑1	1	1	1	1	1	1	6
2nd	126	John Blundell	SHSC	‑5	3	3	‑4	2	2	2	2	14
3rd	616	Nigel Pepperdine	SHSC	‑4	‑7	2	3	4	3	4	4	20
4th	869	Bob Dodds	CMYC	3	‑5	‑5	2	3	4	5	5	22
5th	377	Eddie Pope	Ogston SC	‑9	2	4	5	8	7	‑9	6	32
6th	875	Nigel Austin	Cransley SC	2	9	7	9	‑10	5	6	‑11	38
7th	84	Michael Ettershank	Up River YC	7	4	‑13	8	6	‑13	10	3	38
8th	688	Paul Williamson	SHSC	(DNF)	6	6	7	5	‑10	8	7	39
9th	701	Izac Dodds	CMYC	8	8	10	6	7	‑11	‑12	10	49
10th	867	Chris Robinson	Burghfield SC	6	‑13	11	11	9	8	‑13	8	53
11th	864	Peter Mountford	SHSC	‑12	12	‑18	10	12	6	11	9	60
12th	683	Kris Kenmuir‑Hogg	SHSC	10	‑24	‑14	13	11	9	7	14	64
13th	311	Stephen Bellamy	Winsford Flash	11	11	16	(DNF)	(DNC)	16	3	12	69
14th	844	Paul Hinde	Severn	14	‑17	‑20	12	13	12	15	17	83
15th	532	John Coppenhall	Hunts SC	13	14	17	15	14	15	‑19	‑21	88
16th	800	Henry Jaggers	Beer SC	17	15	8	17	16	(DNC)	‑20	16	89
17th	563	Chris Blundell	SHSC	15	19	12	16	(DNC)	(DNC)	14	15	91
18th	556	Andrew Beaumont	Attenborough SC	21	16	15	19	(DNC)	(DNC)	16	13	100
19th	57	Steve Gregory	Frensham Pond	19	18	‑21	18	‑22	14	17	19	105
20th	396	Richard Barnett	SHSC	20	10	‑22	21	15	19	‑22	22	107
21st	724	Rhian Bevan	Cransley	16	21	‑29	20	17	18	‑23	20	112
22nd	845	Nigel Fern	SHSC	‑23	23	‑24	22	19	17	18	18	117
23rd	857	Helen Leivers	Severn SC	22	‑26	25	23	18	(DNC)	21	23	132
24th	740	Peter Blundell	Chester SC	(DNF)	20	9	14	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	133
25th	527	Dave Waymont	SHSC	‑27	‑28	26	26	20	20	24	25	141
26th	382	Roger Harrison	Redditch SC	18	22	23	25	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	148
27th	849	Tim Higgs		24	27	28	24	(DNC)	(DNC)	25	24	152
28th	400	John Sturgeon	Hawley Lake SC	25	25	19	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	159
29th	754	Mark Starkey	Upton Warren SC	26	29	27	27	21	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	160

Other winners were:

Paul Williamson (Veteran)
Peter Mountford (Ancient Mariner)
Rhiain Bevan (First Lady)
Izac Dodds (First Youth)
Roger Harrison (First Newcomer)
Staunton Harold Sailing Club (First Team)