Radii 18ft skiff UK nationals & British Grand Prix - Day 1
by Alec Mckinlay 6 May 2006 06:48 PDT
5-7 May 2006
The first day of the Radii 18ft Skiff Nationals and British Grand Prix saw a fleet of fourteen skiffs from four countries gather at the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy to compete for the Ovington Cup (despite the best intentions of local vehicle inspection authorities who delayed several of the European teams on their way to Weymouth and held their vehicles for several hours in the small of the morning).
Although the forecast had looked less than exciting during the week the sun shone and a steady breeze of up to 12 knots blew for most of the racing. Not quite enough for full three string sailing but enough to ensure good competitive sailing throughout the afternoon. Race officer Laurence Grimes set an Olympic course for the fleet inside Portland Harbour, with a very tight and challenging reaching leg to keep the crews busy.
In the first race, Rob Dulson, Paul Constable and Alec Mckinlay on Base 1 found more wind up the right hand side of the beat and rounded the top mark in front. However they were rolled by Champions Radii (Andy Richards, Andy Fairley and Alex Tobutt) on the tight first reach, who held their lead until the finish. Tim Penfold, Matt Alvarado and Will Penfold on Fatface showed excellent upwind speed to take second place ahead of Base 1.
For the second place the top two positions were reversed, Fat Face leading from start to finish, with Radii making a very strong comeback after a poor start, rounding the first mark in seventh place and working their way up to second by the finish. Base 1 again took third after a close tussle with the Danish team of Fleming Clausen, Thomas Ebler and Anders Strume on GP Covers.
The third and final race started in slightly more breeze, again Radii showing they will not let go the Championship title lightly, taking the lead from the start. However, GP Covers showed good speed in the slightly stronger breeze and rounded in second, a position they held to the finish. Peter Barton, Martin Borrett and Ian Turnbull on Barron and Smithers took a well deserved third place.
Results after 3 races:
1st Radii (Andy Richards, Andy Fairley, Alex Tobutt) 1,2,1, 4pts
2nd Base 1 (Rob Dulson, Paul Constable, Alec Mckinlay) 3,3,4, 10 pts
3rd Fat Face (Tim Penfold, Matt Alvarado, Will Penfold) 2,1,8, 11pts
4th GP Covers (Fleming Clausen, Thomas Ebler, Anders Strume) 6,4,2, 12 pts
5th Barron and Smithers (Peter Barton, Martin Borrett, Ian Turnbull) 4,6,3, 13pts