Shadow Catamaran Nationals go down to the last race at Gurnard

by Pete Newlands on 24 Jun 2016 The 2016 Shadow Catamaran 2016 Nationals were held at friendly Gurnard Sailing Club on the Solent (the sunset side of Cowes) from 17th to 19th June.

The Shadow X is a high performance single-handed catamaran with an asymmetric spinnaker.

Several of the 20 local regulars were unable to attend (four being professional sailors away on duty, others being in Europe or pregnant or both and having NHS operations – poor excuses really!) nevertheless 12 local Shadow sailors entered plus Graham from Eastbourne helped out and Bjorn Singer from Glasgow brought his cat down from Loch Lomond to play.

Race officer Steve Cole’s midday briefing was held during a torrential downpour on Friday then two races were held in light shifty conditions.

Defending national champion Paul Tanner just off the plane from the Middle East showed well but the tone was set by hopefuls Paul Bowen and Robin Leather with a win each.

Two of three scheduled races were held in difficult light conditions on Saturday. Paul and Robin were pushed hard by everybody (including themselves) and especially the perennially cheerful Carl Blenkinsop and his apprentice Sean Kellett. These four usually emerged clear ahead of the chasing pack who were all exchanging places quite evenly. Joyce Martin assisted Anne Mormon and Steve Cole in the race boat and the two rib crews were particularly appreciated by Pete Newlands.

So it was all down to Sunday when the breeze came in and three absorbing high speed races were conducted in beautiful Thorness Bay. Ian Moore had returned from the almost Bermuda race and was mixing it with the famous front four until a startline incident caused his retirement in the last race. Newbies John Welch and Nigel Harley were showing great improvement, well in contention with class stalwarts Mark Jenkinson, Paul Tanner, Pete Bowen and Martin Scott.

Inevitably it all came down to the last lap of the final race when Paul managed to slip past Robin and hold him off to the finish for a very narrow single point victory. Third was Carl ahead of Sean.

Tremendous racing fun was had by all competitors with lessons learnt and excellent hospitality by Gurnard SC. Most Shadows sported a large M dedicated to fond memories of our friend Mike Martin.

The 2017 Nationals are proposed for somewhere in the Solent.