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Gul UK Fireball National Championships at Royal Torbay Yacht Club - Day 2

by Nick Rees 27 May 2019 13:35 BST 25-28 May 2019

The forecasts for Day 2 of the Gul UK Fireball National Championships at Royal Torbay Yacht Club promised excellent sailing with 15 knot westerlies.

The first race started promisingly with 12-15 knots blowing steadily from a bearing of 250. However, about halfway up the first beat the wind gods started having a laugh and the wind went left and dropped, and thereafter the wind was up and down between 8 and 12 knots and coming from anywhere between 220 and 265 for the rest of the day. The resulting conditions were testing prompting continuous debates about which way to go.

Surely the westerly change was going to come sometime? However, such was not to be and those who kept probing the right hand side of the beat just in case the forecast shift came were generally disappointed and those who sailed the shifts and watched the gusts up the middle invariably came out best in the long run. The race committee did a great job in the circumstances, getting the fleet off on the second start (after the black flag went up) both times, and there was at least one course change in the first race when they tried to follow the wind after it had shifted.

The master of these conditions was Matt Burge and Dan Schieber, who sailed both excellently and consistently leading from start to finish in both races. Their two closest competitors Ian Dobson sailing with Richard Wagstaff and Christian Birrell sailing with Vyv Townend, also put the pressure on themselves by being black flagged in the second race, so cementing this as their discard until the final race of the series on Tuesday. These black flags meant that the second best set of results of the day went to Dave Hall and Paul Constable, who sailed consistently to return a 3rd and a 4th, and they are currently in a 3 way tie for 4th place with David Wade/Richard Pepperdine, and Paul Cullen/Simon Forbes.

The forecast for tomorrow is similar, slightly stronger and slightly north of west. The fleet is eagerly waiting to find out what the reality will be.

Results after Day 2:

PosSail NoHelmCrewFleetR1R2R3R4Pts
115123Matt BurgeDan SchieberGold41113
215161Ian DobsonRichard WagstaffGold132456
315144Christian BirrellVyv TownendGold3264511
415155Dave HallPaul ConsatbleGold10153417
515143David wadeRichard PepperdineGold784617
615147Paul CullenSimon ForbesGold5147517
715120Vince. HoreyAndrew ThompsonGold699318
815122Ian martinBen rhodesGold21281020
915124Pete KyneTom KyneGold85114524
1015162Isaac MarshOliver DavenportGold9710824
1114870Pete GraySimon FoskettGold231113226
1215133Kevin HopeRussell ThorneGold121654533
1315130David WinderBen RaynerGold186171235
1414928Anthony WillcocksJames WillcocksGold1113211438
1515073Sam MettamTim SaundersGold174361839
1615114John HayesJoel JamesGold132418940
1715151Martyn LewisRichard ByneGold3210201646
1814941Derian ScottAndy ScottGold1417191546
1915148Jack GroganWilliam SargeantSilver2218151952
2015150Angus HemmingsCaroline StockmanGold1920142153
2115086Allan TylerChristina TylerSilver202730754
2215157Keith WalkerNick ReesSilver2123122255
2315145Steve GoacherTom GoacherSilver2545241160
2414940Georgia BoothSam PlattSilver2625221360
2515099Simon KingsJono LoeSilver3019162661
2613944Dan JohnsonBen LathamSilver3426232069
2715097Roger EtheringtonpannellBronze1628272871
2815024Joe JospeTom EgliSilver3322351772
2915160Pete BadhamSteve DigbyBronze1541283376
3015045Christine SlaterGraham SlaterSilver2433262777
3115156Daniel ThompsonHarry ThompsonSilver2729292379
3214950Chris ThorneLawrence CreaserSilver3821254484
3314991Andy RobinsonTim MorganBronze3131312486
3414662Anthony ProcterAlan GouleBronze2832423090
3514889Barry SmithRick SpringSilver2934372992
3615075Andy WillcocksAndrea WillcocksSilver4037322594
3714994Damian AbbattQuentin HayesBronze36353334102
3814600Ben AltmanRobin SimpsonBronze37303836103
3915127Jeremy AtkinsRichard BottingSilver39393431104
4014592Charlie SansomChris JenkinsBronze43383932109
4114964David MasonChris OglethorpeBronze41364035111
4214789Hannah FinlayGordon FinlayBronze35404137112
4315121Bryan ThompsonSimon BensonBronze42424339123
4414622Jane CollisonPatrick CollisonBronze44434438125

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