Pacer Nationals at Herne Bay Sailing Club

The resurgent Pacer class arrived at Herne Bay expecting strong winds but were surprised to find a gentle force 2, along with warm weather and sunshine the scene was set, all we needed was some good racing to suit - we were not let down...

The four races over 2 days were won by four different competitors such is the equality among the competitors/boats.

Race 1 saw 5 boats rounding the first mark the places changed throughout the race which eventually saw Bob Keen & Becky Hills take the honours with Bill & Laura Banks 2nd, then former national champs Dai Griffiths & Paul Smith, Mike Warwicker & Tarek Parvez 3rd & 4th respectively Derek & Sam Whitehead 5th.

Race 2 was as tight as race 1 places changing throughout the race, Dai griffiths eventually using his local knowledge to good advantage to take the honours from a consistant Bill Banks 2nd, Mike Warwicker 3rd, Bob Keen 4th and Derek Whitehead 5th.

So day 2 arrived with the the event wide open, anyone of 5 boats could still win the championship. Race 3 got underway in light airs, Brian Wells & Jenny Davies, Mike Warwicker & Tarek Parvez reached the windward mark well clear only to be overhauled by Dai griffiths on the spinnaker leg, Dai pulled away as Derek Whitehead and Bob Keen closed with tricky wind dictating the last beat, Bill Banks rounding in 6th place tacked away towards the shore and found his own private wind, managed to nip inside to take first place from Dai Griffiths, with Brian Wells 3rd, Bob Keen 4th, and Mike Warwicker 5th,

It all came down to race 4, with 3 boats in a whisker of each other, Brian Wells sailed of into the distance to win by a merry mile!, while the battle for national champion raged behind, Bill Banks got clear 2nd only to be overhauled by Dai Griffiths, then Bob Keen came through both to take 2nd place, followed by Dai Griffiths 3rd then Mike Warwicker 4th, Bill Banks posted a 5th and thought he had blown it! until the totting up that is...

Overall Results: