Windsport Sprint 15 Nationals at Pwllheli Sailing Club

Sprint 15 nationals at Pwllheli © Keith Bartlett

Sprint 15 nationals at Pwllheli © Keith Bartlett

The Windsport Catparts Sprint 15 National Championships returned to Pwllheli with a strong turnout of 58 boats. With a 17-20 knot NW breeze, and some lumpy seas, the one lap practice race gave competitors a good taste of what hazards the trapezoidal course had to offer. Race 1 saw the top helms quickly power themselves into a commanding lead, as they relished in the boisterous conditions. The leading bunch of Mark Aldridge, Kevin Dutch and Paul Grattage established a 400-yard lead over the rest of the chasing bunch. Aldridge took the gun after 3 laps with Dutch chasing hard some 100 yards astern, followed by Erling Holmberg, who made powered his way past Grattage.

After a delay to re-lay a wandering pin end buoy, Race 2 started in slightly less windy conditions, and Dutch got the bit between his teeth and took the lead from the gun. The 1 mile slog up the beat was testing for all, as was the wild ride to marks 2 & 3, which sorted out the pond sailors from their sea based counterparts. Once again the leading bunch, joined this time by Stuart Snell, built up a commanding lead over the rest of the pack. Dutch had the race well sewn up and crossed the line ahead of Aldridge, Grattage and Snell.

Day 2 arrived with some grey skies, a 9-10 knot westerly breeze, and a much less agitated sea state. With 3 races and a lunch break to fit in, time was at a premium. The wind picked up to 11 knots for Race 3, but the fleet had failed to notice the impact of the tide, which swept most of them well over the line for two general recalls, before the Race Officer hoisted the black flag (for the first time ever in a Sprint 15 Nationals). This restored order and the fleet got away cleanly. The wind swung around several times, and the mid fleeters found their positions changing depending on which tack they had taken on the beat. Aldridge had worked his way past Dutch, and lead him home after 3 laps to win Race 3.

After a clean start for Race 4, the wind dropped back to 6-7 knots, and progress for all slowed dramatically. With the first lap taking over 30 minutes for the leading boats, the race was shortened to 1 ½ laps and was finished at mark 2. The lighter wind saw a change in the leading boat, with David Ball recording his first win of the event. Both Dutch (17th) and Aldridge (12th) lost out to lighter helms on the long, long downwind leg.

After a well-earned break for lunch, the fleet came out to a freshening 17 knot westerly breeze. This again favoured the heavier helms, who had to work very hard on the 1.1mile beat up to the windward mark. The mid fleet boats were taking 25-30 minutes per lap, so the race was shortened to 2 laps. Keith Newnham took good advantage of an excellent start to squeeze into 3rd place, behind Dutch and the winner Aldridge.

Day 3 started with sunshine and an 11 knot westerly wind. For Race 6, the fleet again misjudged the tide and after 1 general recall, the black flag was displayed for a 2nd time in the Championships. However, in the melee at the favoured pin end of the line, event leader Aldridge had become trapped on port and was holed in a port starboard incident. Grafham Water teammate Frank Sandells generously offered Aldridge his boat. Dutch made a perfectly timed port start at the pin end of the line and crossed in front of the whole fleet. However he was made to work very hard by Paul Grattage, who had consistently faster downwind speed. In the closest finish of the Championships, Dutch beat Grattage by two boat lengths, with Snell some yards behind.

Sadly, Aldridge hadn’t found the boat speed in his swapped boat in Race 6, and by the start of Race 7, he had switched back to his original mount, which was by now completely waterlogged in the starboard hull, so Aldridge sensibly decided to retire, and with it went his chance of winning the Championship. The wind had dropped and shifted towards the west and mark 2 was now the windward mark, for Race 7, the final and Championship deciding race. After the first lap, three boats were in very close contention, with Snell holding a few boat lengths lead over Dutch and the lighter weight Robin Newbold. The wind continued to slowly drop, and after the 2nd, very slow lap, the race was shortened with Snell taking his first win of the week, over Dutch 2nd and Newbold 3rd.

With his 2 firsts and 4 second places, Kevin Dutch from Seasalter became the new 2011 Sprint 15 National Champion from last year’s winner, Stuart Snell.

The Sprint 15 fleet would like to thank all at Pwllheli Sailing Club for running such a great event, coupled with their Welsh hospitality and humour.

Overall Results:

Two–up, Simon & Lily Giles (Shanklin SC) 60 pts
First Junior, Jacob Aldridge (Grafham SC) 146 pts
First Ladies, Bethan Davies & Kay Bowen (Netley SC) 189 pts
First Heavy weight, Martyn Ellis (Thorpe Bay SC) 45 pts
First over 60, Stuart Snell (Grafham SC) 14 pts
Pro Am, Richard Philpott & Gordon Goldstone, 155 pts