Gul UK Fireball National Championships at Royal Torbay Yacht Club

Gul UK Fireball National Championships at Royal Torbay Yacht Club - Day 3

by Christine Slater & James Willcocks 28 May 06:37 BST 25-28 May 2019

Gul Fireball Nationals at Torbay day 3 © Tanya Hutchings

A gusty and shifty F3-F4 westerly with large holes and some sunshine greeted the fleet as they launched for races 5 and 6 of the 2019 Gul Fireball National Championship.

There was a short delay as the race committee did a good job to set the course in the challenging and shifty conditions. A black flag set the tone for the day with the race committee keen to get the fleet away. The fleet started on the first attempt with Christian Birrell and Vyv Townend the only casualty of the black flag something that may well prove critical at the end of the event.

The wind conditions proved very unpredictable with big gains to be had for those who managed to be in the right place and were fortunate to be able to play the shifts. The result of this was lots of place changing and tight racing throughout the fleet.

Gul Fireball Nationals at Torbay day 3 - photo © Tanya Hutchings

The first reach was very tight with some electing to two sail the reach, only hoisting their spinnakers about half way along and a number of Aussie drops.

After three laps, the runaway winners of race 5 were Ian Dobson and Richard Wagstaff in boat 15161.

Race 6 got away on the second attempt with the current leaders Matt Burge and Dan Schreiber black flagged along with Kevin Hope and Russell Thorne.

With the wind remaining unpredictable, there was a large right hand shift on the first beat causing some consternation on the left of the fleet and some excitement for everyone else!

Gul Fireball Nationals at Torbay day 3 - photo © Tanya Hutchings

Showing their characteristic good form, the winners of race 6 were once again Dobson and Waggers, pushing them into the overall lead of the championship.

After a tough day's sailing the fleet was more than ready for the BBQ and the prize draw featuring Gul wetsuit, Gul drysuit and a Hyde spinnaker.

Heading into the final day, the battle for first place is between Ian Dobson/Richard Wagstaff and Matt Burge/Dan Schieber, separated by only 2 points. Dave Wade and Richard Pepperdine sit in third with only 3 points to fourth place Dave Hall and Paul Constable.

Gul Fireball Nationals at Torbay day 3 - photo © Tanya Hutchings

Further down the standings, the silver fleet is being comfortably led by Jack Grogan and William Sargeant. The leaders of the bronze fleet are Roger Etherington and Dave Pannell with an impressive 27 points to the next bronze fleet boat.

Results after Day 3:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Fleet	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	15161	Ian Dobson	Richard Wagstaff	Gold	1	3	2	45	1	1	8
2	15123	Matt Burge	Dan Schieber	Gold	4	1	1	1	3	45	10
3	15143	David wade	Richard Pepperdine	Gold	7	8	4	6	2	4	23
4	15155	Dave Hall	Paul Consatble	Gold	10	15	3	4	4	5	26
5	15120	Vince. Horey	Andrew Thompson	Gold	6	9	9	3	18	7	34
6	15122	Ian martin	Ben rhodes	Gold	2	12	8	10	15	3	35
7	15147	Paul Cullen	Simon Forbes	Gold	5	14	7	5	12	10	39
8	15162	Isaac Marsh	Oliver Davenport	Gold	9	7	10	8	6	11	40
9	14870	Pete Gray	Simon Foskett	Gold	23	11	13	2	8	8	42
10	15151	Martyn Lewis	Richard Byne	Gold	32	10	20	16	5	6	57
11	15144	Christian Birrell	Vyv Townend	Gold	3	2	6	45	45	2	58
12	15124	Pete Kyne	Tom Kyne	Gold	8	5	11	45	19	15	58
13	15130	David Winder	Ben Rayner	Gold	18	6	17	12	11	12	58
14	15073	Sam Mettam	Tim Saunders	Gold	17	4	36	18	7	13	59
15	15114	John Hayes	Joel James	Gold	13	24	18	9	22	19	81
16	14928	Anthony Willcocks	James Willcocks	Gold	11	13	21	14	23	22	81
17	15148	Jack Grogan	William Sargeant	Silver	22	18	15	19	10	20	82
18	15133	Kevin Hope	Russell Thorne	Gold	12	16	5	45	9	45	87
19	15099	Simon Kings	Jono Loe	Silver	30	19	16	26	13	16	90
20	15157	Keith Walker	Nick Rees	Silver	21	23	12	22	45	14	92
21	14940	Georgia Booth	Sam Platt	Silver	26	25	22	13	16	17	93
22	15024	Joe Jospe	Tom Egli	Silver	33	22	35	17	14	9	95
23	14941	Derian Scott	Derek Jarvis	Gold	14	17	19	15	30	35	95
24	15150	Angus Hemmings	Steve Chesney	Gold	19	20	14	21	25	23	97
25	15145	Steve Goacher	Tom Goacher	Silver	25	45	24	11	28	21	109
26	15086	Allan Tyler	Christina Tyler	Silver	20	27	30	7	32	30	114
27	15097	Roger Etherington	Dave Pannell	Bronze	16	28	27	28	17	32	116
28	13944	Dan Johnson	Ben Latham	Silver	34	26	23	20	34	18	121
29	15156	Daniel Thompson	Harry Thompson	Silver	27	29	29	23	20	27	126
30	15045	Christine Slater	Graham Slater	Silver	24	33	26	27	26	24	127
31	14950	Chris Thorne	Lawrence Creaser	Silver	38	21	25	44	21	31	136
32	15160	Pete Badham	Steve Digby	Bronze	15	41	28	33	38	29	143
33	14991	Andy Robinson	Tim Morgan	Bronze	31	31	31	24	33	28	145
34	15075	Andy Willcocks	Andrea Willcocks	Silver	40	37	32	25	27	25	146
35	14964	David Mason	Chris Oglethorpe	Bronze	41	36	40	35	24	26	161
36	14889	Barry Smith	Rick Spring	Silver	29	34	37	29	41	33	162
37	14662	Anthony Procter	Alan Goule	Bronze	28	32	42	30	37	37	164
38	15127	Jeremy Atkins	Richard Botting	Bonze	39	39	34	31	29	36	169
39	14994	Damian Abbatt	Quentin Hayes	Bronze	36	35	33	34	31	38	169
40	14592	Charlie Sansom	Chris Jenkins	Bronze	43	38	39	32	36	34	179
41	14600	Ben Altman	Robin Simpson	Bronze	37	30	38	36	39	40	180
42	14789	Hannah Finlay	Gordon Finlay	Bronze	35	40	41	37	35	39	186
43	14622	Jane Collison	Patrick Collison	Bronze	44	43	44	38	40	41	206
44	15121	Bryan Thompson	Simon Benson	Bronze	42	42	43	39	42	45	208