Pwllheli Cherub Nationals day 3 and 4

by UK Cherub on 26 Aug 2012 On day three of the 2012 Pwllheli Cherub Nationals, the wind and waves abated significantly, giving us the perfect conditions for racing. To catch up with the programme the Race Officer scheduled four races. The fleet surprised the race officer by being on the line at the start and there were even a few over that needed to go back. With a quick beat upwind the race was on.

Following a smooth rounding of the top mark the 05's were off flying down the first run with the 97's not far behind. Marmite took the kite low and a couple of laps later they had the first win of the day, with Riot Van and Elenor coming in close behind. A quick turnaround assured a swift start to the second race where things started to get a little competitive, as the wind had eased further. Pasta Frenzy finally showed what it was made of by flying off on the downwind legs and keeping up with the 05's. The third race saw the wind get a bit lighter and the heavy weight crews suffered as a result, Riot Van scored another win followed by Ronin, and Marmite made up the top three.

The wind filled in again for the fourth race with Riot Van taking line honours for the third time of the day. With big winds expected for tomorrow it is all to play for, with two points separating the top two Riot Van and Subtle Knife with Eleanor sneaking in seven points behind its tight competition. In the 97 fleet Born Slippy are the favourites but Comfortably Numb could pull it out the bag!!

1. Riot Van, Graham and Eddie Bridle
2. Subtle Knife, Clive and Alex Everest
3. Elenor Dean Ralph and Simon Jones
4. Pocket Rocket, Phil and Carol Alderson
5. Atom Bom, Ben and Sam Rushton

Day 4

After Thursday night's energetic AGM and fun in the bar, the fleet braced themselves for an early start. The forecast for the fourth and final day of the Nationals was looking grim: eight foot waves and 30 knot gusts. This was a little worrying, but fortunately the weather man had got it wrong and upon launching we found a moderately bumpy race course with a nice 10-15kts of wind. This made for some good wave jumping and some epic downwind surfing.

At the front of the fleet there was a good battle with last year's winners Graham and Eddie Bridle in Riot Van stretching their lead over Marmite, Eleanor and Subtle Knife. Eleanor and Subtle had some close racing, and in the final race Eleanor seemed to have completed a daring overtaking manoeuvre coming in hot to the bottom mark, only to capsize allowing Subtle to slip through. Pocket Rocket and Atum Bom were wonderfully consistent with three fifths and sixths respectively. This cemented Pocket's fourth place overall and Atum's fifth.

Meanwhile the '97 rules fleet was having a right old ding dong. Pasta Frenzy was showing excellent speed, but couldn't quite overhaul Born Slippy in the final results after their superb handling of the strong breeze of days one and two.

So ultimately Graham and Eddie won their second Nationals in style having shown their strength and persistence in difficult conditions and supreme speed when it mattered. Another father and son team came in second - Clive and Alex Everest in Subtle Knife showed that size and strength are less vital than skill and energy. UK Cherub website