Vane 36R UK National Championships at Fleetwood Model Yacht Club
by Tony Wilson 2 Jun 14:04 BST
24-25 May 2025
Vane 36R UK National Championships at Fleetwood © Tony Wilson
For those not too familiar with these: a small boat whereby the hull is of a restricted size and fits in a wooden box of 36 inches long by 11' x 8. The smallest vane yacht widely and regularly sailed at a few clubs around the UK.
The forecast wasn't looking too brilliant with a wind hitting 20MPH on Saturday and maxing out to 40MPH for Sunday, whether or not the sailing would even take place was a good question.
22 Skippers entered for the event, last hosted at Fleetwood in 1975, so somewhat of a treat for the locals. Many choose this small boat to sail from the vane selection, being easy to boot and not excessively too fast for the older legs. So some would have thought.
With score cards made out and teams of two also chosen for an additional prize later on, it was out to the lake for an extremely busy weekend to get under way. One boat hadn't turned up so a bye was on the cards to be taken for the individuals in turn.
Two heats were eventually sailed before lunch and we were well behind a tough morning schedule. The afternoon saw three more heats sailed and then tired legs retired for the day.
Sunday looked a lot dryer, but the wind was making the sailing look virtually impossible, until Lewis, the sacrificial lamb showed us all it could actually work. A delayed start for the first race, then we had a coffee break. Talks were going on whether to abandon the virtually impossible sailing, sail just another heat or even sail just beats as the run was very fast.
Two more boats had dropped out earlier, so a couple more bye's on the card assisted in extra hands for the far and finishing bank.
After lunch, believe it or not, more races were sailed along with re-sails at the end before close and then the full force of the wind hit.
We did well to sail 11 heats in total for a horrendous and exciting weather forecast.
Spinnakers or even knotted spinnakers had been used by a few when the wind was plumb down the lake from the west end, in addition to the smallest sails one could find.
A great weekend and experience for those that persevered right to the end.
Results:
1. Chris Harris 88%
2. Martin Dovey 80%
3. Shaun Wyeth 76%
4. Derek Priestley 70%
5. Peter Whiteside 65%