Snipe National Championship at Stone Sailing Club

Mark Antonelli and Will Maguire win the Snipe UK Nationals at Stone Sailing Club © Iain Marshall

The Snipe Class returned to Stone Sailing Club for its 2018 National Championship. With visitors from Norway, Sweden, Belgium and France combined with the Mediterranean temperatures well into the 30's, the event had a truly European feel to it.

Day 1 started Hot hot hot with no breeze and the fleet were held ashore under postponement however as the day progressed, the sea breeze began to materialise at which point proceedings got underway.

Race 1 started at the second time of asking in a light and fickled breeze and with the recent very warm weather there was an abundance of weed in the river making the course resemble a lawn rather than a river however this did add an interesting dimension to the racing. The fleet was tightly bunched at the windward mark however Thibault Vandrot and Nadia El Ghozi from France worked their way through the weed on the first downwind leg and rounded the leeward mark clear ahead of the pack and headed into a building breeze upwind leaving the chasing pack fighting the tide to reach the leeward mark. With the tide underneath them, Thibault and Nadia built a commanding lead and led to the finish. Matthew Wolstenholme and Ewan Harris took second with Richard Marshall and Mike Kerr taking third.

The second race again took a couple of attempts to get away but at the second time of asking the fleet battled upwind through the weed and tide which again played its part in proceedings. Richard and Mike were again in the mix at the top mark but it was Mark Antonelli and Will Maguire who soon took to the front and sailed to the finish to take another gun ahead of Steffan Skjonberg and Maria Ohrn in second with Richard Marshall and Mike Kerr ending up third.

With the weather forecast for the remaining two days looking dubious, the race officer sensibly pulled a race forward to qualify the event as a championship. Race 3 was therefore clearly going to be hotly contested as this in essence could potentially have been the championship decider and with the 4 places separated by only 2 points, everything was to play for.

The race got away pretty cleanly and the usual runners and riders were heading the fleet. Alan Williams and Liz Pike who have won multiple championships made their move and were pushing the front hard but Mark and Will were not going to let the race go without a fight. The battle for the final race win of the day went down to the wire and it was the final downwind leg turned into a gybe for gybe blow with Mark and Will taking the win by less than a boat length from Alan and Liz second and Steffan and Maria in third.

Day 2 of the championships was greeted with a constant 30 knots of breeze and above the class limit for racing and so the fleet retired to the bar and spent the afternoon tinkering with self- launching pole systems as the occasional game of petanque to continue the European feel to the event.

Day three dawned with a very solid breeze and after a quick trip out to the race area to assess the conditions, the fleet was given the green light to go. A solid 20 knot breeze meant that the fleet was reduced somewhat but with the top 4 still separated by only 2 points, it was anyone's game.

Richard and Mike nailed the committee boat holding Alan and Liz slightly to Leeward with Mark and Will slightly behind. The fleet soon split with Mark and Will opting for the left hand side of the course with the majority of the fleet heading to the right. At the windward mark, Alan and Liz headed the fleet with Richard and Mike a close second. Peter Wolstenholme and Jenna Gibson were third just ahead of Steffan Skjonberg and Maria Ohrn and Mark and William.

It looked like Alan and Liz were on their way to take another title at this stage however a capsize allowed Richard and Mike to take the lead. Carnage at the gybe mark saw Richard and Mike, and Matthew and Ewan take a quick swim allowing Peter Wolstenholme and Jenna Gibson to head the fleet. Mark and William and Steffan and Maria then passed up into second and third place respectively with Ian and Charlotte knight moving into forth.

With the wind increasing and multiple capsizes, places were changing frequently with a number of the fleet retiring. Peter and Jenna demonstrated mastery in the tough conditions taking the win from Steffan and Maria with Mark and Will taking third. Due to the conditions racing was then abandoned and the fleet made their way ashore with everyone doing their number crunching to work out who would lift the 2018 title.

As the boats landed, the final placings became clear and after sailing a very consistent series it was Mark Antonelli and Will Maguire who were the newly crowned National Champions with Steffan and Maria in second and Richard and Mike in third.

Overall Results:
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