29er victory at Glyn Charles Memorial Open Pursuit Race

by Mark Covell on 28 Apr 2009
The 2009 Glyn Charles Memorial Open Pursuit Race was won by James Peters and Dicken Maclean of HISC, sailing a 29er. Second were Matt Findlay and Richard Anderton from Weston SC sailing a Fireball and in third John Bell and Graham Williamson in a Merlin Rocket from Hampton SC.

All week the forecast was swinging between a very sailable 15 knots, to a full family frightener of 25-30 knots. On the day the gods gave us a beautiful spring race day with bright sunshine and scudding white clouds throwing down a shifty south-southwesterly breeze of 15-20 knots.

The race officer Greg Wells and his team did a great job as always, setting a spectator’s course for the 140 entries with the first mark just off the HISC clubhouse. Rounding Sandy to port saw the fleet blast away on a starboard reach down to Runway then harden up for a debatable three sail reach to East Head, somewhat less debatable for the boats with only one sail. Greg is famous for setting legs that challenge the crossover point, whether to hoist and hang-on or stay safe and work it. The shifting direction and pressure certainly gave the teams plenty to think about.

The march back upwind from Astra to Dunes was also a split call during the flooding tide, with some teams opting to stay low across Stocker Bank or tack up under a gusty East Head and pop out to attack the Winner Bank.

As always the Bank had the odd tidal induced standing waves that slapped a few hiking crews round the face and resulted in some great shots from the camera boat!

The worthy winners, James Peters and Dicken Maclean of HISC, sailing a 29er attributed their win to choosing the right boat - they had intended to sail a 49er but seeing the conditions made for a last minute swap to a 29er. This is Dicken MacLean’s second win (he was helming the winning RS 200 in 2008). He plans to come back next year and defend his winning run.

The date will be early May 2010 and as always we hope you will come and enjoy a great day of fun sailing, in memory of Glyn Charles, and to raise money for the John Merricks Sailing Trust. www.jmst.org.uk This year the event raised over £1,300.

As always the event was supported by many sponsors supplying some great prizes. Our sincere thanks go to Tacktick, Neilson Holidays, Fat Face, Scott USA, The Daily Sail.Com, Ingrid Abery, Rick Tomlinson, Dee Caffari Racing, Volvo Ocean Race, Gill, Yachts & Yachting, Yachting World, Seahorse International and Winning Tides.

Highlights from the 140 entries:

- First Moth: Martin Harrison in 6th (which was a non foiling Moth).
- First National 12, Jo Richards and Sophie Macley in 10th.
- First Flying 15, Barry and Sue Parkin in 14th
- Top B14, that of Dave Dobrijevic and Phil Eltingham at 17th.
- First Finn, Neil Robertson in 21st place
- First RS200, Chris Allen and Fiona Pyke in 24th.

Glyn Charles Memorial Open Pursuit Race - leading finishers

1 29er 773 James Peters Dicken Maclean HISC 1 1.0
2 Fireball 14899 Matt Findlay Richard Anderton Weston SC 2 2.0
3 Merlin Rocket 3652 John Bell Graham Williamson Hampton SC 3 3.0
4 Fireball 14954 Becky Priest Tim Saunders Staunton Harold SC 4 4.0
5 Fireball 14820 Andrew Pearce Adam Broughton Portishead 5 5.0
6 Moth 4043 Martin Harrison Royal Victoria YC 6 6.0
7 RS600FF 1000 Sam Pascoe Castle cove 7 7.0
8 Laser 2 10588 Nigel Skudder Keith Hills Starcross 8 8.0
9 Merlin Rocket 3685 William Warren Chris Robinson Shoreham SC 9 9.0
10 Nat12 3519 Jo Richards Sophie Mackley 10 10.0
11 Merlin Rocket 3661 Graham Scroggie Ben Scroggie Parkstone 11 11.0
12 Fireball 14946 Keith Walker Rhys Pickett HISC 12 12.0
13 National 12 3515 John Meadowcroft Katy Meadowcroft Upper Thames SC 13 13.0
14 Flying 15 3911 Barry Parkin Sue Parkin HISC 14 14.0
15 Musto Skiff 251 Neil Upton-Brown HISC 15 15.0
16 Fireball 14857 Simon Lytton HISC 16 16.0
17 B14 777 Dave Dobrijevic Phil Eltringham HISC 17 17.0
18 Scorpion 2008 Steve Hall James Ward Nothampton SC 18 18.0
19 Flying 15 3927 Mark Wood Tim Rumfitt HISC 19 19.0
20 B14 785 David Hayes Sean Dwyer Southport SC 20 20.0
21 Finn 679 Neil Robinson MRSC 21 21.0
22 Phantom 1274 Simon Childs Northampton 22 22.0
23 Flying 15 3923 Charles Apthorp Martin Grady HISC 23 23.0
24 RS200 883 Chris Allen Fiona Pyke HISC 24 24.0
25 Musto Skiff 314 Richard Lovering HISC 25 25.0
26 RS700 923 Nick Peters HISC 26 26.0
27 RS200 872 Mark Heather Simon Conway Wilsonian SC 27 27.0
28 RS200 766 Harry Roome Prue Roome Itchenor SC 28 28.0
29 RS200 1087 Timmy Ellis Doug Horner Swanage SC 29 29.0
30 Flying 15 3725 Tom Hall Grayson Eacott HISC 30 30.0
31 Flying 15 3935 Peter Slater Adrian Simpson HISC 31 31.0
32 Merlin Rocket 3653 Judith Massey Jeremy Williamson HISC 32 32.0
33 RS K6 162 Ian Robson Simon Tonks Alderburgh YC 33 33.0
34 RS200 1360 Frances Peters Oliver Spensley-Corfield HISC 34 34.0
35 RS K6 155 David Hitchcock Ian Nicholson HISC 35 35.0
36 Flying 15 3736 Peter Bannister Sue Bannister HISC 36 36.0
37 RS800 985 David Sayce Fiona Sayce HISC 37 37.0
38 Mirror 70361 Isabel FitzGerald Emily Peters HISC 38 38.0
39 Merlin Rocket 3586 Rod Porteous Maureen Porteous HISC 39 39.0
40 Finn 681 Simon Pettit Emsworth SC 40 40.0
41 RS Elite 6 Mike Dawe Greg Lamb / Martin Whitaker HISC 41 41.0
42 Flying 15 3615 Roger Palmer Barbara Palmer HISC 42 42.0
43 Finn 656 Graham Macdonald MRSC 43 43.0
44 MRX 3622 Mark Candelas Phil Treacher Wembley SC 44 44.0
45 Albacore 8076 William Gulliuer Wendy Pickstock 45 45.0
46 Fireball 14798 Maria Richards Graham Hoy Blackwater SC 46 46.0
47 RS Elite 8 James Hill Ian Williams / Arian Everet HISC 47 47.0
48 29er 1249 Emma Barry Jameel Hussein HISC 48 48.0
49 Solo 4669 Nick Rawlings HISC 49 49.0
50 RS K6 172 Created from sailno wizard 50 50.0

See the full results at: www.hisc.co.uk/openresults09/glyn_charles_09.htm