UK 18ft Skiff Grand Prix – Round 2 at Calshot Activity Centre

by Ben Clothier on 6 May 2012 UK 18ft Skiff Grand Prix second round is being held at Calshot Activity Centre over the bank holiday weekend (5-7 May). Eight skiff teams entered on day one.

The bitterly cold Solent was gruelling enough for the regular day tripper let alone the few that had donned rubber suits for a day on the water.

The biting north easterly blew a consistent 14, gusting 16/17kts at times with some reasonable shifts making life challenging on a short windward leeward course with plenty of ragging the kite to make the downwind gate.

It was Pica that was to dominate the day posting three firsts. With LED, Ronstan and Young and Reckless hot on their heels at times. Ronstan, having made the trip down from Loch Lomond to enter their first 18 event put in an impressive first showing with two seconds and a third often being hotly pursued by Young and Reckless. This promises more close racing between these two teams as the rest of the weekends racing unfolds.

Mark Watts and his team on Aftica showed great pace having bought Jack Grogan's M18 to replace their old B18. They were no doubt happy with a third in the first race but had to retire through gear failure in the second. The Hyde team, having only taken delivery of their replacement boat from Europe weeks before, spent the day in the boat park putting things together.

Carsington and Gill were stretching their legs as crew work settled down getting into the mix during the first couple of laps A number of team members, mostly helms with the exception of the clearly indestructible crews Steward Mears and Matt Kiddle, enjoyed a session in the Calshot Activity Centres Velodrome. More learning although different types of corners!

The Calshot Activity Centre had a live band and hog roast lined up in the evening.

A full complement of eight boats is expected for Sunday's three starts. The last day of sailing will be Bank holiday Monday.

Results after three races:

Pos	Boat	SailNo	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1st	Pica	92	Jamie Mears	Stewart Mears / Tristan Hutt	Stone SC	1	1	1	3
2nd	Ronstan	12	Craig Hepplewaite	John Annan / Cammy Steele	Loch Lomond SC	2	2	3	7
3rd	LED	43	Steve McLean	Nick Murray / Tom Bruton	Hayling Island SC	4	RTD	2	14
4th	Young & Reckless	30	Tom Hill	Miguel Andrew / Mark Kudlinski	Rutland SC	RTD	3	4	15
5th	Gill	11	Tom Kiddle	Matt Kiddle / Oscar Mead	GCYC / Calshot SC	5	4	RTD	16
6th	Aftica	52	Mark Watts	Marcelle Newbold / Alex Farr	Cardiff Bay Yacht Club	3	RTD	DNS	20
7th	Carsington	40	Richard Allen	Richard Bland / Peter Shaw	Carsington SC	RTD	RTD	5	21
8th	Hyde Sails	26	Jack Grogan	Mike Banks / Sam Caslin	West Mersea YC	DNS	DNS	DNS	27

UK 18 footer Class Association website

Class Sponsors - Blue Sheets Marine Directory, Spartan Wetsuits, Ovington Boats and Action Cameras. Event sponsors - DRisk Risk Management Software and Hyde Sails