2015 English National 18 Championships overall

by Andrew Young on 9 Jul 2015 2015 English National 18 Championships – Bosham SC welcomed visitors from Bough Beech SC, Tamesis, Lymington SC and eventually Blackwater SC, as Team Berney were stuck in a major incident on the M25. Thus, racing was delayed for a short while, after which the breeze kicked in for an amazing afternoon of champagne sailing, bright sunshine, warm water and ideal winds of 11-17.5 knots from the Southwest.

Race Officer, Nick Fox and his team on Bosham’s new committee boat, Glad Emma, set four short and sharp races. The first, to warm us all up, was two laps windward-leeward followed by three races on sausage and triangle courses. The strong flood tide split the fleet off the line to either side of the harbour, converging again at our windward mark. The good breeze made for some great kite runs and a good workout for those off to Cork at the end of the month for the Class Championships.

Twelve 18s took part: five wooden Classics, three Chichester 18’s, one Penultimate and three of the latest Morrison Ultras. Despite the range in ages of the competing boats, this provided an exciting spectacle and some great competition. It is a testament to the durability and ethos of the class to see one of the Class’s oldest boats, Robert Bailey’s 65-year-old DANDY 107, out racing with the newest addition, Jess Berney’s PANTHER 406 launched just days before at White Formula in Brightlingsea.

It was also the first time the recently launched, Phil Morrison designed Ultra’s, Odyssey 400 (Tamesis), Hurricane 401 (Lymington) and Panther 406 (Blackwater SC) had raced together and, unsurprisingly, these three led the way around the courses.

Whilst there were thrills ‘a plenty in the breezy conditions and at times, not more than a fag paper between boats, there were no major spills, although, one unnamed classic practiced their emergency stop procedures by wrapping their kite around a harbour post.
Result: Post 1 – Kite 0 (pride…TBA)

Bosham sailor, Dick Pratt, swapped his usual 12m2 Sharpie for a Chi 18, Deja Blue. He and his crew of Anne Rehil and Duncan Wilson kept the pressure on some of more powerful classics with some great starts.

The Classics were close, with Toucou 368 (Brian Hoolahan, Andrew Young and Alistair Tyler) beating Finola 225 (Richard and Mags Watney and Paddy Mirams) by just one point.

The eventual winners on handicap, Odyssey 400, was helmed by James Fox, Kaan Yargici on the wire and Craig Robinson. Craig had hardly sailed before, but being a quick learner and around 6’2, helped keep Odyssey on a winning track.

After a hot and tiring afternoon on the water, crews retired to rehydrate at Bosham SC where the magnificent National 18 English Trophy was presented by Bosham's weekend regatta sponsors, Strutt and Parker.

For more information, visit the website.

Full results

Rank	Boat	Class	SailNo	HelmName	CrewName	PY	R1 05/07/15 12:30	R2 05/07/15 BTB	R3 05/07/15 BTB	R4 05/07/15 BTB	Total	Nett
1st	Odyssey	Morrisan N18	400	James Fox	kaan Yargici craig Robinson	936	1.0	(2.0)	1.0	1.0	5.0	3.0
2nd	Hurricane	Morrisan N18	401	Jermy Vines	Ollie Houseman Doug Nestor	936	(2.0)	1.0	2.0	2.0	7.0	5.0
3rd	Panther	Morrisan N18	330	Jess Berney	Julian Berney Duncan	936	(6.0)	3.0	5.0	3.0	17.0	11.0
4th	Toucou	NATIONAL 18, Wooden Classic	368	Brian Hoolahan	Andrew Young Alistair Tyler	1020	3.0	5.0	3.0	(6.0)	17.0	11.0
5th	Finola	NATIONAL 18, Wooden Classic	225	Richard Watney	Paddy Mirrams Mags Watney	1020	(5.0)	4.0	4.0	4.0	17.0	12.0
6th	Deja Blue	CHICHESTER HARBOUR 18'	CH10	Dick Pratt	Anne Rehiluncanl Duncan Wilson	1035	4.0	6.0	(13.0 OCS)	7.0	30.0	17.0
7th	Thumbelina	NATIONAL 18, Wooden Classic	253	Simon Veysey	Maurice Lockyer Charlie Read	1020	7.0	(9.0)	7.0	5.0	28.0	19.0
8th	Red Flight	CHICHESTER HARBOUR 18'	CH8	Mandy Stirup	Daved Hall Richard Barnes	1035	(11.0)	7.0	9.0	9.0	36.0	25.0
9th	Whisp	NATIONAL 18, Penultimate	287	Trevor Chanter	William Chanter Helen Chapman	995	12.0	(13.0 DNF)	6.0	8.0	39.0	26.0
10th	Theorette	NATIONAL 18, Wooden Classic	133	Tom Reid	Colin Price Peter Nuttall	1020	9.0	(10.0)	8.0	10.0	37.0	27.0
11th	Dandy	NATIONAL 18, Wooden Classic	107	Gordon Currey	Robert Bailey Ben Masson	1020	10.0	8.0	(11.0)	11.0	40.0	29.0
12th	Bellatrix	CHICHESTER HARBOUR 18'	CH9	Frank McCormack	Mike Camps Paul Heber	1035	8.0	11.0	10.0	(12.0)	41.0	29.0