Martin 16 Nationals at Northampton Sailing Club

10 boats for the inaugural Martin 16 nationals © Eddie Pickering

10 boats for the inaugural Martin 16 nationals © Eddie Pickering

With the arrival of the first 3 Martin16’s in the UK in April this year, it was hard to believe a National Championships could or would need to be held so soon. However this 2-seat keelboat is proving popular with sailors of all type’s, its very popular with disabled sailors as showed with the numbers entering the championships. Out of the 10 boats entered 7 boats had combined crew (disabled/none disabled) 2 boats had all disabled crewmembers and 1 boat with an all able-bodied crew. There are 15 Martin16’s in the country with a further 12 being imported before the end of this year so its hoped that a very active fleet will be on the race scene for next year.

The event started with a dull wind less day, the AP was posted, this was not what we had come for. After 90mins it was decided there was enough breeze to try and race, indeed there was, it was finicky, light and demanding. The Canadian pairing of Danny McCoy and Steve Alvey boat 115 won the first race and indeed never finished lower than 3rd in the 7 races held. By the end of the first day only 1 point separated the first 3 boats some very good close racing.

Day 2 brought rain and gusty conditions but all were ready to fight it out for the title of UK champion.

Boat 109 Michael Cogswell and Rob Foster dropped from equal first with a 4th and 5th place in races 5 and 6 but boat 118 Megan Pascoe & Duncan Bates put in a 3rd and 1st to leave them needing a first place in the last race for overall victory. The scene was set for a great finale between these two boats but 118 were to eager and with an OCS failed to pinch the championship from the Canadians. A big thank you goes to the Northampton Sailing club for hosting the event and thanks to all others that made the championships run so well.

Overall Results: