Javelin Nationals at Isle of Sheppey Sailing Club

by Gavin Johnson 16 Sep 2006 13:42 BST 26-28 August 2006

Two Dutch and one German boat joined the British fleet at Isle of Sheppey Sailing Club for the 2006 Nationals.

In a force 2 to 3 of fluctuating direction GER 426 Jolly Jumper helmed by four time European Champion Jens Schlittenhard with Jens Steinert, Medusa (GBR 564 Kathryn Smith and Brian Dixon) and Quicksilver (GBR 566 Richard Smith and Chris Etchells) dominated the two Saturday races. Quicksilver took two wins with Medusa and Jolly Jumper taking a second and third each. A resurgent Tim Greenaway returning from a shoulder injury, sailing with Liam Packham (GBR563 Snow Wolf ) never quite lost contact with the front runners.

Saturday night and IOSSC put on an awesome buffet and naturally everyone felt obliged to overindulge. On Sunday, with three races scheduled, Snow Wolf began the day well but was unable to disrupt the leading three boats. Blue Chip and Taboo Lexis Taboo Lexis (GBR 565 Will and Gavin Johnson) sailed consistently to lead the buddy competition. In race 4 Medusa disappeared into the lead giving Kathryn superb victory. The final race of the day was to prove the most intriguing of the event. Mighty White (GBR 559 Cliff Sagar and Lindsay Bennett) stormed away on the first beat to healthy lead from Jolly Jumper, Quicksilver and Taboo Lexis. Taking advantage of a large shift on the first reach Taboo Lexis claimed third place. Mighty White maintained their lead onto the beat. In the shifty conditions positions changed frequently but at the finish the order of Quicksilver, Jolly Jumper and Medusa had a familiar ring.

The prelude to an excellent evening meal, at the club was raft building or was it Mark and Rachel Dixon drenching Dick Fisher.

Monday will long be remembered for the squall which hit the fleet during race 6, with the Jumper revelling in the strong winds the event was set for a fascinating finale, In seconds the wind ramped up from a fun F5 to a full on F8 with monstrous gusts on top. Sensibly the PRO abandoned the race. Playtime! especially Quicksilver and Sarissa who just couldn’t resist flying spinnakers.

With more storms threatening racing was abandoned. Congratulations to Richard Smith and Chris Etchells for winning the 2006 UK National Championships and many thanks to IOSSC for an excellent event. Special thanks must go to our Dutch and German friends for attending our event.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts	Awards
1	GBR 566	Richard Smith	Chris Etchells	1	1	1	2	1	6	National Champions
2	GBR 564	Kathryn Smith	Brian Dixon	3	2	2	1	3	11	First Lady Helm and Mixed Crew
3	GER 426	Jens Schlittenhard	Jens Steinert	2	3	3	3	2	13
4	GBR 563	Tim Greenaway	Liam Packham	5	4	4	4	5	22	Silver Fleet Winner
5	GBR 510	Katrin Deinhardt	Olav Schluter	4	5	5	5	9	28	Buddy Trophy Winner
6	GBR 565	Will Johnson	Gavin Johnson	10	10	6	6	4	36	Bronze Fleet Winner
7	GBR 508	Ian Winterburn	Michael Melles	6	9	8	10	7	40
8	NED 268	Arent de Jong	Michiel vd Heuvel	12	6	10	7	6	41
9	NED 512	Bart Kooi	Jeanine Kooi	8	7	9	13	10	47
10	GBR 562	Ben Fisher	Richard Fisher	7	8	12	8	13	48
11	GBR 561	Nick Faulkner	John Meachen	9	11	7	11	11	49	Old Birds trophy and Senior Helm
12	GBR 529	Greg Barton	Anna Walsh	13	12	11	12	12	60
13	GBR 559	Cliff Sagar	Lindsay Bennett	DNF	DNS	OCS	9	8	62
14	GBR 184	Rebecca Cross	Jane Partington	11	13	13	14	DNF	66