National 18 English Championships at Blackwater Sailing Club
by Jeremy Vines 16 Jul 2017 01:28 PDT
7-8 July 2017
The 18s were made very welcome by the Blackwater Sailing Club over the weekend of the 7/8 July. Apart from great hospitality the visitors were provided with excellent weather and race management.
In Saturday's lighter conditions, there was a lot of place changing and race wins for Shadow and Hurricane, and it was the former in pole position overnight.
On Sunday there was a solid planing breeze and three substantial back-to-back races saw Jess Berney's Panther win in convincing style.
The National 18s now look forward to the British and Irish Championship to be hosted this year by Hayling Island Sailing Club from 23rd to 28th July. Fifteen of the new Morrison designed 'Ultras' are entered along with a number of older 'Ultimates' and 'Classics'.
Top 4 Results:
1st – 406 Panther - Jess Berney, Brett Townsend, Gregor Davidson / Ben Arnold
2nd – 412 Shadow - Maria Richards, Julian Berney, David Nichols
3rd – 401 Hurricane - Ollie Houseman, Jeremy Vines, Alex Norman / David Evans
4th – 400 Odyssey - Matt Peregrine-Jones, Kaan Yargici, Dana Church