Sharpie British National Championship - An international flavour

by James Case on 24 Jun 2010 The Sharpie British Championships were given an International flavour with two Dutch and one German boat, boosting the entries up to 24.

A little early practice, in anticipation of next year’s European championship at this venue.Brancaster bay provides relatively sheltered conditions for most wind directions, except from the North. As it transpired Friday was the only day when sea sailing was possible, with a N/ NE 2 building to a brisk force 4 and lumpy sea, giving an indication of what was to come over the weekend. With strong cross tide beats, and the pin end start buoy in a different postcode to the committee boat, starting tactics and getting the first beat right proved crucial.

Dennis Van Vliet and Marcel Verlaan in NED135 did exactly that, combined with some impressive windward boatspeed, to win both races. Defending champions Chris and Tim Gibbs scored two seconds for the day, but only after a last ditch overtake of Richard Major & Bob Curtis during the short beat to the finishing gate in race 1. Paddy Spink and John Ellison rounded out the top 3 in race 2.Overnight, the wind continued to build in strength, the sight of white water out to sea, & even in the harbour entrance gave an early indication to the Wells crews travelling the coast road, of the inevitable.

The Race Officers decision to cancel met little resistance from even the hardiest of crews. This led to the possibility of not completing the Championships. No doubt, after consulting every available forecast, PRO Malcolm Collins decided to race within the confines of the harbour on Sunday, with sea sailing impossible in the Northerly 5-6.

The relatively congested start and first beat led to many a racing incident, with NED135 the most unfortunate. Having clipped a port boat they were dipping, during penalty turns they broke their boom and capsized. Back in the race, the Gibbs brothers just made the windward buoy ahead of the pack, to then open up a comfortable lead to win from James Case and Jimmy Goodley, with the German champions posting a third.With the tide pushing out, the final race got away at the second attempt, with the black flag deterring the over keen.

The ebb tide foreshortened the first beat, giving the only safe seats, and a grandstand view to the rescue boat crew stationed there. Pleasantries were forthrightly exchanged, with more near misses than a busy year at Heathrow, but remarkably all escaped with minor damage and continuing debate as to the rights and wrongs! While the fleet were distracted, the Gibbs quietly rounded first and held it to the finish, followed by Spink and Ellison second, and father and son team Eric and Patrick Verkaik in third.

With a discard brought into play, NED135 managed to hang on to second overall, after bailing out and borrowing an ancient spare boom to complete the last race. Having written the last few reports, I have run out of superlatives, this marks a seventh consecutive title for Chris and Tim Gibbs. Our thanks go out to the Race Officer and his team for completing the championship in testing conditions, and to BSSC under the watchful direction of Cliff Nye, for looking after the needs of the Sharpie fleet so efficiently.

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British Championships 2010

125 Windspiel Chris Gibbs / Tim Gibbs
NED 135 Krek Wak Wou Dennis Van Vliet / Marcel Verlaan
9 Annamarie Paddy Spink / John Ellison
GER 377 Bunyip Klaus Eisenblatter / Sven Owe Baumgartner
NED 137 Plasjager Eric Verkaik / Partick Verkaik
16 Titania Richard Major / Bob Curtis
12 Rock-a-Bye James Case / Jimmy Goodley
134 Poejse Brian Lambert / Tim Adams
127 Skybird Adam Anthony / Gerard Baron
2 Tela Ben Cracknell / Sally Wynne
61 Vixen Rex Elliott / Jim Crossman
NED 226 Fuut Richard Mulderij / Oggy
68 Sea Thrift James Nunn / Henry Burkitt
132 Liebchen Kiki Spink / Ed Medcalf
128 Capella Andy Turner / Paul Beachell
135 Poelsnip Martin Read / Ollie Read
106 Miranda Bruce Kemp / Andy Williams
76 Annabella Richard Cracknell / Ben Johnson
111 Southern Cross Charlie Borthwick / Tim Ashby
78 Redwing Gary Anthony / Alan Coe DSQ
136 Rakker Jonathan Pinner / Claudia Spink
3 Houri Cliff Nye / James Nye 16 16 20 20
63 Chuckles Ed Farrell / Francesca Farrell
118 Cymba Simon Neale / Debbie Gilbert