National 12 Dinghy Shack Series at Burghfield Sailing Club

2017 Gul National 12 Sprint Championship at Burghfield © Douglas Powell

The National 12 Dinghy Shack Series kicked off at Burghfield Sailing Club on the 14th of March. After a few years of strong winds, cold, wet or snowy weather, competitors were greeted with a shifty force 3 from the South-West, sun with a few showers and double-digit temperatures.

After a short briefing, the seven visiting and seven local National 12s headed for the start. The order of the day was sprint racing with the aim of completing eight 15-20 minute races. The race Officer set a trapezoid course with 2 laps.

The port bias and shifty winds caused some pile-ups on the start-line but the race got under way without too much trouble. Ian and Alex Gore in N3525 established an early lead which they kept to the finish followed by Graham Camm and Zoe Ballantyne in N3530 and Tom and Robbie Stewart in N3544. Races 2 and 3 were both won by Graham and Zoe, followed by Ian and Alex. During the fourth race, won by Ian and Alex, the wind dropped to almost nothing and the fleet retired to the clubhouse for some lunch. After the morning's racing Ian and Alex were tied on points with Graham and Zoe with Tom and Robbie in third with a very consistent set of four 3rd places.

The wind picked up during lunch giving rise to some exiting racing as the fleet was very close together. During race 2, the whole fleet found itself close to one of the islands shore which caused multiple cascade calls for 'room to tack'. Graham/Zoe and Ian/Alex picked up another win each in races 5 and 6 but Tom and Robbie made good use of the extra wind to take the last 2 races With Jon and Sam Brown in second.

The prize-giving took place shortly after racing with some tea and cake. Graham and Zoe win over all by one point from Ian and Alex followed by Tom and Robbie in third. Nigel and Chris White were the leading non-foiler, and Dan Meadowcroft crewed by Katie was the first Junior. Freya Lillywhite received the merit prize for helming her first N12 event. Each of the prize winners received goodie bag courtesy of the series sponsor DinghyShack.

The next events in the Dinghy Shack series are at Salcombe Yacht club on 8-10th May 2020 and Brighlingsea Sailing Club on 6-7th June (COVID-19 permitting).

Overall Results: