Noble Marine 2022 UK Musto Skiff National Championship at Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club - Day 3
by GBR Musto Skiff Class Association 4 Sep 2022 20:09 BST
1-4 September 2022
Day 3 of the 2022 Noble Marine UK Musto Skiff Nationals at Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club started with warm sunshine, flat water, and a building breeze. The first race of the day was on schedule for a 12pm start, with four races planned.
Race 5
With the wind settling in at 6-8 knots from the southwest and tide ripping hard towards Dover, Ian Trotter showed a clean pair of heels after tacking off at the committee boat end and hitting the right-hand side. He was eventually reeled in by an on form, Sam Pascoe, who took the lead on the last gybe to the finish.
The last spot on the podium was fought out between Sam Barker, Chris Webber, and Ben Clegg - who finished in that order after the wind filled in from behind on the last run allowing them to break free from the pack.
Race 6
Race 6 got under way in a steady 10 - 12 knots. Rob Richardson pulled off the dream start crossing the whole fleet on port and comfortably led to the windward mark with Jono Shelley, Dan Trotter, and Sam Pascoe in pursuit. Rob then suffered a technical issue on the kite drop allowing the chasing pack to come through.
Sam pulled away up the second beat to take the race win followed by Jono Shelley in second and Dan Trotter in third.
Race 7
The third race of the day saw the wind pipe up to a steady 10 - 12 knots with the current slowing down but still dominating the race course. The fast starters mostly came out of the right hand of the course, hugging the beach and staying out of the tide. Danny the Boatman, still recovering from the most recent disco (circa 12 hours earlier), had other ideas and beasted his way to the top mark in first from the generally unfavoured left hand offshore side. Pascoe and Hurter slotted in hot pursuit followed by the gaggle of fleet including Keen and Richardson.
The front three generally kept the pack at bay and played hot potato with the lead, with Pascoe claiming another win, followed by Hurter, then Boatman fending off 3rd from Keen right until the end. Richardson scooped 5th to keep his streak of good scores going.
Race 8
With 8 - 10knots on the race course and tide going out, the race committee showed no mercy with 3 general recalls (1st under a "U" flag, then under a black flag) to tame the eager fleet for the last race of the day.
Dan Vincent had a cracking start from the middle of the line, going fast up wind with Keen, Turnbull and Clegg following suit. The fleet split 50/50 going either side of the course with the left paying due to more consistent wind and tide, with Clegg tacking around the mark 1st and Vincent hot on his heels.
Downwind, Pascoe went inshore and paid leasing around the left leeward mark while Vincent and Clegg chose the right-hand mark. With breeze building on the left, Vincent and Clegg gained a lead upwind, followed very closely by Bridle.
On the final downwind to the finish, Vincent and Bridle showed very good speed to pip Clegg to the finish, followed by Barker.
After Day 3, the podium places remained the same with Sam Pascoe in 1st place, followed by Bruce Keen in 2nd, and Ian Turnbull now in 3rd. With a 20-point lead over Keen, Pascoe is now looking comfortable to take the Title going into the final day of the championship, but with 3 races still to go, anything can happen.
Provisional results