Minisail National Championships 2014
Whitefriars Sailing Club in the Cotswold Water Park hosted a
very international Minisail Nationals over the weekend of 5/6 July. With
visitors from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, not to mention Cornwall and
England, the 15 sailors who gathered together were a fine example of European
unity!
Many of the travellers arrived on Friday, and by early
evening, that very English drink, Pimms, was being consumed in unwise
quantities by most of the assorted gathering.
Saturday’s sunshine was punctuated in the morning by heavy,
squally showers, usually just as we were venturing outside to look at some
finer point of Minisail tuning during our coaching sessions. Luckily, the
afternoon brightened up and the wind steadied while we got loads of starting
practice and mini races under our belts as the coaching continued.
Once the official coaching had finished, it was time to try
out each other’s boats. Unlike most “one design” classes, the Minisail consists
of 3 different basic designs, with then more variants on deck layout and
whether sliding seats are used. Too complex to go into here, the full story can
be found on the Minisail website at minisail.org.uk. This variety means a great
time can be had seeing what other people are sailing. Jumping into a boat with
a sliding seat after sailing a standard one can involve a steep learning curve,
especially when it comes to turning corners.
Sunday dawned sunny and warm, and once the effects of
another night on the Pimms wore off, people prepared to race. For some this was
simply a case of stepping the mast, for others, drills and screwdrivers were
out. However, just as the sailing standard of the competitors had clearly
improved from previous years it was noticeable that the old boats were in far
better condition than at the last Nationals. A couple of sailors had decided
not to take part in the racing, due to lack of experience, back troubles or
needing to ring church bells for the bishop, so Sylvia Croft from Liverpool,
Clive Berry from Avon SC and local Charlie Whelan were missing from the fray.
The first race got under way, and soon Jonathan Bomford from
Mylor, Cornwall and Rupert Whelan from the home club had pull out a small lead,
with Jonathan just ahead. However, disaster befell him at the first mark, as he
rounded the wrong way. While he unwound himself, Rupert build a small lead.
With Jonathan’s sliding seat Monaco faster on the beats than Rupert’s Sprite
design, there was no rest until the final gun, especially with the wind coming
and going in fits and starts. Frans Stoop, our Dutch visitor, showed fantastic
boat speed towards the end of the race to close up right behind Jonathan for 3rd.
Chris Gilchrist started her first ever race, as did Julian Niedermaier, and for
him the previous day’s coaching had obviously paid off, as he got a cracking
start.
The second race saw Rupert take an early lead, and but with
Jonathan close on his tail yet again. These 2 boats dominated the race, with an
incredibly tight race for 3rd a little further back. Frans Stoop,
Ronny De Gruyter (from Belgium) David Argles (Southampton), Julian Niedermaier (Germany),
Sandwell Valley SC trio Paul Rogers, Gill Dyer and Rob Baker (sailing an Aquabat,
a class so similar, the Minisails have welcomed them into the fold) had a great
race, with positions for most undecided until the final beat to the finish line.
Frans came out on top to take another 3rd place.
Autumn hit for the third race. Shortly after the start, a
huge squall blew through. The first casualty was the race leader Jonathan, whose
rudder, unused in many a year, decided to snap off at the stock. Most of the
rest of the fleet was blown flat, leaving local Rupert to pick his way through
the carnage to take the win and therefore defend his title. The only other boat
to recover and cross the finish line was a gutsy Tom Moore from Southampton,
the lightest and oldest sailor in the fleet.
A depleted fleet of 6 boats started the final race. It soon
became apparent that the storm had caused another problem – it had broken huge
patches of weed free from the bottom of the lake and left them floating all
over the race course. Just yards from the start line, all the boats ground to a
halt, desperately lifting centreboards and reaching over the back to clear
rudders, only to be engulfed again. Using his Whitefriars weed clearing
knowledge, it was again Rupert who managed to break free first, catching a gust
of wind at the same time as hitting a weed-free patch of water. The rest of the
race was spent scanning the water ahead and planning a route around the
foliage. Again, the pack were tight together, with leading boats suddenly
stopping in a weed patch and helplessly watching others pass on by. Frans came
out ahead to take 2nd from David, Jonathan (sporting a borrowed
rudder), Tom and Ronny.
Special mention must go to Dean Martin, who had come all the
way from Belgium, who decided, for reasons of sport, to rig his boat with an
RS600 sail for the day. He sailed the 1st 3 races, but had
structural and control issues and could do no better than mid fleet, though his
results couldn’t really count in the final reckoning. However, while the squall was on, he could be
seen standing on the edge of his sliding seat, planing back and forth between
the inevitable capsizes. Nobody could work out (least of all Dean) why the mast
pot wasn’t ripped out of the boat! At other times over the weekend, he had also
been seen doing handstands on the end of the sliding seat.
The Prize giving involved much cake. Stars of the show were
the race team. Kathryn Whelan not only prepared lunch and tea (with masses of
help from Katherine Lewis on Sunday) but also handled all the finances of the weekend
and entertained the non-sailing visitors. Saturday’s galley crew, Alan Martin
and Sue Jarvis did a great keeping us fed and watered. Simon Clark put on 4 interesting
races in tricky, shifty, gusty conditions and kept a smile on his face for us
all day whatever daft things we ended up doing. Gareth Lewis, his assistant,
kept track of the changing fortunes of the fleet as the day went on. Saturday’s
boat driver Rod Farnden kept us safe while Sunday’s Safety boat team Al Steel and
Chris Mills were kept very busy for a while, pulling tired Minisail sailors out
of the water and rescuing their boats. Thank you to you all.
Results
1
Rupert Whelan
2
Jonathan Bomford
3
Frans Stoop
4
David Argles
5
Tom Moore
6
Ronny De Guyter
7
Julian Niedermaier
8
Rob Baker
9
Paul Rogers
10
Gill Dyer
11
Chris Gilchrist
12
Dean Martin
No comments:
Post a Comment