Streaker National Championship at South Shields Sailing Club - Form Guide
by Neil Firth 20 Sep 2022 16:29 BST
23-25 September 2022
Streaker Nationals 2022 Form Guide - Tom Gillard © Paul Williamson
The Streaker fleet is heading to the North East Coast this weekend for the 2022 Noble Marine Streaker National Championships. South Shields Sailing Club is pulling out all the stops to lay on an event to remember and we are expecting some highly competitive racing at all levels of the fleet.
Here is our guide to the most fancied runners and riders. Top sailors from a number of classes have recently bought Streakers and will be taking on the usual stalwarts, but the key question for the UK dinghy racing scene is whether or not Tom Gillard will be adding a fifth class to his already impressive haul of 2022 National and World titles: Fireball World and National Champion, Merlin Rocket National Champion, Scorpion National Champion and Solo National Champion!
So far this season, Tom hasn't put a foot wrong and few will be betting against him successfully defending his Streaker title. But he's not invincible, as Martin Penty and Steve Blackburn have proved. They were champion and runner up in 2019, with Tom finishing third overall.
Jasper Barnham will be looking to make an impression at his first Streaker Nationals, as will Peter Gray who will be aiming to better the 4th place he achieved last year in his first Streaker Nationals at Staunton Harold. If you're looking to take a punt on the likely winners of the Youth and Ladies prizes, look no further than the current holders of these titles, rising star Giles Therkelson-Smith and class legend Veronica Falat.
Racing starts on Friday and our correspondent will be there to report on all the action. Watch this space!