Comet Class Association National Championship at Fishers Green Sailing Club

by Godfrey Clark 7 Aug 2019 20:10 BST 26-28 July 2019

Fishers Green Sailing Club hosted the Comet Class National Championships in the Lee Valley Park.

As the July weekend approached plans were in place for three days of racing and a program of social events. However, in common with many inland sailing venues the emergence of large patches of weed threatened the viability of holding a Championship. The weed appears quickly and unpredictably under certain conditions, and for three days beforehand the Club members were manually removing boatloads of weed from the course area. Because the lake was originally dug in two halves, the north half is much deeper and therefore relatively weed-free but the struggle remained of sailing there from the club shore.

On Friday morning everyone was met with a scene of pouring rain, random patches of weed, and not a breath of wind, the worst possible scenario for a flagship event for both the club and the Comets. However as the day progressed, conditions began to improve sufficiently for races 1 & 2 to be held during the afternoon, albeit in extremely light and shifty wind conditions.

On Friday evening the social program got under way with a sailing themed quiz, the highlight of which was the appearance of Quizmaster Clive Gladwin, in a dazzling orange suit, a literal eye opener to visitors and club members alike.

On Saturday, no further weed patches appeared and the gradually strengthening wind to 10 mph made racing much better and a full program of four races was completed.

After sailing the Comet Association held their AGM and the day was completed with an absolutely delicious 3 course meal, planned and produced by Club member Genevieve Braas, which will go down in the annals of Club history.

By Sunday morning the wind speed had further strengthened to 12 mph with possible gusts which promised to make racing much livelier than at the beginning of the event with Mike Ettershank performing a spectacular capsize before the start.

Due to a dispute over interpretation of the course a hearing was held to resolve the case which decided the result of the 7th race, and thus the championship. The outcome was to award redress to Bob Dodd from Crawley Mariners SC who finally finished .7 of a point ahead of runner up Guy Wilkins from Chipstead SC.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Pts
1st	869	Bob Dodds	Crawley Mariners	1	‑10	1	3	‑13	1	DGA	1	11.3
2nd	886	Guy Wilkins	Chipstead SC	‑3	‑7	2	1	1	3	3	2	12
3rd	875	Nigel Austin	Cransley	‑6	1	4	‑7	4	2	1	5	17
4th	597	Ben Palmer	Baltic Wharf	‑10	4	5	2	2	‑12	2	4	19
5th	377	Eddy Pope	Ogston SC	2	‑5	3	5	3	‑6	4	3	20
6th	323	Annette Walter	Welwyn	‑9	2	‑8	4	7	5	5	6	29
7th	311	Steve Bellamy	Winsford Flash	5	‑13	12	‑14	6	4	6	13	46
7th	806	Joe Wilkins	Chipstead SC	4	3	‑11	10	10	9	10	‑11	46
9th	84	Michael Ettershank	Eyott SC	‑12	9	9	‑11	5	7	7	10	47
10th	800	Henry Jaggers	Beer SC	14	‑15	7	6	‑15	8	9	7	51
10th	867	Chris Robinson	Burghfield SC	7	8	6	8	‑14	‑14	13	9	51
12th	532	John Coppenhall	Hunts SC	‑13	6	‑15	12	9	11	8	8	54
13th	412	Scott Waterland	Tewksbury	‑15	‑17	10	9	8	10	15	12	64
14th	849	Tim Higgs	Burghfield SC	8	12	‑16	13	11	‑18	12	14	70
15th	400	John Sturgeon	Hawley Lake	16	11	13	17	‑19	15	11	(DNF)	83
16th	57	Steve Gregory	Frensham Pond	‑19	16	14	‑19	12	13	16	16	87
17th	830	Mick Parnell	Bristol Avon SC	11	14	17	18	17	17	(DNC)	(DNC)	94
18th	614	Carol Butcher	Hawley Lake	‑20	(DNF)	20	16	16	16	14	17	99
19th	845	Nigel Fern	Staunton Harrold	18	‑19	18	15	18	‑19	18.5	15	102.5
20th	41	Mark Smith	Fishers Green SC	17	18	19	20	20	20	(DNC)	(DNC)	114
21st	383	Cliff Webb	Chipstead SC	‑21	20	21	21	21	21	17	(DNF)	121