2015 British Finn National Championship - Day 1

by Robert Deaves on 11 Jul 2015 Ben Cornish has got off to a great start at the British Open Finn National Championship at Hayling Island Sailing Club with two race wins in light to moderate winds. Andrew Mills is second and Hector Simpson is third.

The championship has attracted 61 entries from five nations in the biggest UK Finn event in many years. It highlights the growth in the class in recent years and the hard work by the UK committee in promoting the class throughout the UK.

On the beach before racing the day looked set to be a cliché ridden day of glamour and champagne, with brilliant sunshine making Hayling Bay look very inviting. It was everything the fleet had hoped for except the promised 12-14 knots gradually reduced to eight - ten knots with a difficult chop to steer through. The racing, as usual though, remained tight and hard fought.

In race one Ben Cornish rounded the top mark just behind one of the overseas visitors, Marc Allain des Beauvais from France, who was the sole OCS of the day. Hector Simpson, fresh from the Silver Cup in Valencia, where he narrowly missed out on a top 10 place, briefly took the lead at the second upwind mark, but Cornish regained the lead downwind for the win. Oscar flag for free pumping remained up for the race. Simpson took second while Andrew Mills, making a return after retiring from competitive Finn sailing last year, crossed in third.

Cornish then led at every mark in race two. He led round the first mark from Philippe Lobert from France and Mills. Mills had moved up to second by the gate and held it to the finish with Simpson coming through to third.

Simpson also leads the Junior fleet from Jack Arnell in fourth overall. The British Nationals is leg one of the inaugural Trans-Manche Jean-Jacques Godet Trophy 2015, a combined event with the French Finn Nationals which starts in Quiberon on Monday. A number of British sailors, along with the French sailors here will travel to Quiberon after racing on Sunday.

After racing today, most of the sailors gathered for a sponsored evening with a Jean-Jacques Godet Cognac tasting session, which a selection of four cognacs explained and then sampled. It all ended well.

The British Championship is sponsored by GAC Pindar, Zhik, North Sails and Suntouched Sailboats. Racing continues to Sunday with the forecast showing an increasing wind over the next two days.

Results after two races

1 GBR 91 Ben Cornish 2
2 GBR 85 Andrew Mills 5
3 GBR 96 Hector Simpson 5
4 GBR 28 Jack Arnell 11
5 GBR 720 Julian Smith 13
6 GBR 2 Allen Burrell 17
7 GBR 679 Neil Robinson 17
8 GBR 635 Simon Percival 18
9 GBR 567 Martin Hughes 21
10 NED 88 Chiel Barends 23

Overall Results:

Rank	Tally Num	Country	Sail Num	Name	Sailing Club	Age gp	R1 10 Jul	R2 10 Jul	Total	Nett
1st	41	GBR	91	Ben Cornish	Exe SC	Open	1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0
2nd	6	GBR	85	Andrew Mills	Queen Mary SC	Open	3.0	2.0	5.0	5.0
3rd	10	GBR	96	Hector Simpson	Yorkshire Dales SC	J	2.0	3.0	5.0	5.0
4th	3	GBR	28	Jack Arnell	Christchurch SC	J	4.0	7.0	11.0	11.0
5th	57	GBR	720	Julian Smith	Mengeham Rythe SC	GM	7.0	6.0	13.0	13.0
6th	25	GBR	2	Allen Burrell	Thorpe Bay Yacht Club	GM	6.0	11.0	17.0	17.0
7th	26	GBR	679	Neil Robinson	Mengeham Rythe SC	GM	8.0	9.0	17.0	17.0
8th	35	GBR	635	Simon Percival	Christchurch SC	M	5.0	13.0	18.0	18.0
9th	5	GBR	567	Martin Hughes	Warsash SC	GM	9.0	12.0	21.0	21.0
10th	18	NED	88	Chiel Barends	The White House, Loosdrecht	GM	18.0	5.0	23.0	23.0
11th	24	GBR	98	Cameron Tweedle	Oxford SC	J	13.0	10.0	23.0	23.0
12th	11	FRA	112	Philippe Lobert	SNO Nantes	GM	20.0	4.0	24.0	24.0
13th	46	GBR	100	Matthew Walker	Mengeham Rythe SC	Open	11.0	15.0	26.0	26.0
14th	39	GBR	9	Tim Tavinor	RCYC	GM	10.0	17.0	27.0	27.0
15th	27	GBR	683	Adrian Brunton	RYA	GM	12.0	16.0	28.0	28.0
16th	43	GBR	81	Simon Childs	HISC	GM	16.0	14.0	30.0	30.0
17th	50	SWE	14	Stefan Nordstrom	Karlstads Kappseglingsforening	GM	19.0	19.0	38.0	38.0
18th	56	GBR	77	Howard Sellars	Warsash SC	L	17.0	25.0	42.0	42.0
19th	4	GBR	61	John Heyes	Mengeham Rythe SC	GM	14.0	30.0	44.0	44.0
20th	51	GBR	581	Vince Hayter	Warsash SC	GM	24.0	21.0	45.0	45.0
21st	29	GBR	1	Sander Kooij	Thorpe Bay Yacht Club	GM	28.0	18.0	46.0	46.0
22nd	48	GBR	68	John Mackie	West Kirby SC	M	23.0	24.0	47.0	47.0
23rd	53	GBR	80	Ray New	Christchurch SC	GGM	15.0	36.0	51.0	51.0
24th	28	GBR	64	Fergus Allan	Loch Earn SC	GM	34.0	20.0	54.0	54.0
25th	13	GBR	19	Simon Hoult	HISC	M	25.0	29.0	54.0	54.0
26th	59	GBR	90	Richard Sharp	Bough Beech SC	M	27.0	27.0	54.0	54.0
27th	17	NED	924	Fred Van Arkel	Chew Valley SC	GM	33.0	22.0	55.0	55.0
28th	1	NED	962	Jan Bart	WV Haringvllet	GM	22.0	35.0	57.0	57.0
29th	32	GBR	708	Michael de Courcy	Mengeham Rythe SC	GM	21.0	39.0	60.0	60.0
30th	12	GBR	4	Russell Ward	HISC	GM	29.0	31.0	60.0	60.0
31st	61	GBR	0	David Walker		GM	39.0	23.0	62.0	62.0
32nd	55	GBR	631	Richard Hart	Mengeham Rythe SC		41.0	26.0	67.0	67.0
33rd	15	NED	704	Erik Verboom	WHV	Open	30.0	38.0	68.0	68.0
34th	2	NED	942	Maarten Bart	WV Haringvllet	Open	31.0	37.0	68.0	68.0
35th	60	GBR	521	Simon Moss	Keyhaven YC	Open	35.0	34.0	69.0	69.0
36th	8	FRA	99	Marc Allain des Beauvais	SNO Nantes	GM	62.0 OCS	8.0	70.0	70.0
37th	33	GBR	10	Robert Deaves	Waldringfield SC	M	40.0	33.0	73.0	73.0
38th	20	GBR	707	Callum Dixon	Docklands Sailing & Watersports Centre	J	26.0	50.0	76.0	76.0
39th	36	FRA	50	Nidul Baudin	Club Nautique Lorrain	GM	45.0	32.0	77.0	77.0
40th	38	GBR	13	Roman Khodykin	Mengeham Rythe SC	Open	38.0	40.0	78.0	78.0
41st	23	GBR	548	Jonathan Tweedle	Oxford SC	M	37.0	43.0	80.0	80.0
42nd	34	GBR	62	Jerry Andrews	Alton Water SC	M	32.0	49.0	81.0	81.0
43rd	37	FRA	55	Annaud Baudin	Club Nautique Lorrain	Open	42.0	41.0	83.0	83.0
44th	47	GBR	619	Charles Tavner	Bosham SC	Open	56.0	28.0	84.0	84.0
45th	62	GBR	656	Graeme MacDonald	Mengeham Rythe SC	L	44.0	44.0	88.0	88.0
46th	31	GBR	559	Tim Newton	Oxford SC	GM	47.0	42.0	89.0	89.0
47th	14	GBR	564	Peter Vinton	Staunton Harold SC	GM	43.0	47.0	90.0	90.0
48th	16	GBR	93	Tim Simpson	Yorkshire Dales SC	M	36.0	57.0	93.0	93.0
49th	21	GBR	34	Peter Blick	Keyhaven YC	GGM	49.0	45.0	94.0	94.0
50th	22	GBR	595	Edward Thorburn	Newhaven and Seaford SC	GM	46.0	48.0	94.0	94.0
51st	40	GBR	672	Stewart Mitchell	Annandale SC	M	48.0	51.0	99.0	99.0
52nd	7	GBR	486	Cy Grisley	Keyhaven YC	M	54.0	46.0	100.0	100.0
53rd	54	GBR	658	James Wyburd	Mengeham Rythe SC	GGM	50.0	53.0	103.0	103.0
54th	30	GBR	22	Andrew Wylam	Mengeham Rythe SC	GM	53.0	52.0	105.0	105.0
55th	58	GBR	30	Ian Frayne	Mengeham Rythe SC	GM	51.0	55.0	106.0	106.0
56th	9	FRA	48	Patrick Huynh	CVAN	M	52.0	54.0	106.0	106.0
57th	42	IRL	8	Richard Tate	Royal St George Yacht Club	GM	55.0	56.0	111.0	111.0
58th	45	GBR	48	Anthony Walker	Mengeham Rythe SC	GGM	62.0 DNC	62.0 DNC	124.0	124.0
58th	44	GBR	49	Jim Downer	Gurnard SC	Open	62.0 DNC	62.0 DNC	124.0	124.0
58th	19	GBR	65	David Potter	West Kirby SC	GM	62.0 DNC	62.0 DNC	124.0	124.0
58th	52	GBR	75	James Cole	Warsash SC	M	62.0 DNC	62.0 DNC	124.0	124.0