Tornado Nationals at Whitstable Yacht Club
by Richard Allen 2 Sep 2003 17:11 BST
30/09/2003
The revival of the UK Tornado class was reaffirmed by a strong turnout for the 2003 National Championship, held at Whitstable Yacht Club. While four of the RYA squad boats concentrated on their preparations for the Cadiz World Championships, there was a strong 21 boat entry for the 3 day national championship at Whitstable, including regular international sailors Leo Farrow and Tristan Lamb. All boats had converted to the new rig, and all were Marstrom built except for one Sailcraft boat converted by Andrew Miller from North Devon and one Reg White built for the 2000 Olympics.
The first day's sailing was marred by strong northerly winds combined with a high tide, which made launching from the beach impractical until late in the day. On Saturday 30th August four races were held. The first won by GBR 406 sailed by Chris and Mark Field from Minnis Bay, strong newcomers to the class. The second and third races were won by Will Sunnucks and Mark Self, and the last race by Leo Farrow and Tristan Lamb in a dying wind and very shifty conditions.
On Sunday the wind was a light and shifty Northerly, sometimes disappearing completely. Race officer Nick Finlay eventually started race five, and Chris Field once again took the lead followed by Will Sunnucks. These two crossed the finish line in almost no wind: only two others finished within the time limit, one of which was the luckless Pip & Dan Parsons from the home club who upon finishing discovered they had been OCS.
A sixth race was started, but abandoned after the wind had fallen below 3 knots for 15 minutes.
Despite the shifty conditions the same four boats consistently appeared at the front of the fleet. Thanks are due to Whitstable Yacht Club for staging a good event in difficult conditions and the Class look forward to returning there in 2004.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 417 | Will Sunnucks | Mark Self | Brightlingsea | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | 406 | Chris Field | Mark Field | Minnis Bay | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| 3 | 415 | Leo Farrow | Tristan Lamb | Worthing | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| 4 | 402 | Andrew Walsh | Edward Barney | Exeter Uni | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 22 | 12 |
| 5 | 413 | Simon Northrop | Matt Young | Minnis Bay | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 22 | 19 |
| 6 | 424 | Richard Allen | Mike Speller | Warsash SC | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 22 | 30 |
| 7 | 407 | Richard Lamb | David Figgis | WYC | 11 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 22 | 35 |
| 8 | 395 | Vincent Talford | Neil Baldry | Brightlingsea | 19 | 6 | 10 | 22 | 4 | 39 |
| 9 | 408 | Tim Huckell | Chris Pygall | WYC | 9 | 9 | 16 | 10 | 22 | 44 |
| 10 | 403 | Pip Parsons | Dan Parsons | WYC | 22 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 22 | 46 |
| 11 | 398 | John Ready | Ben Cutler-Sharp | Brightlingsea | 14 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 22 | 50 |
| 12 | 396 | Geoff Mylcrist | Steve Evans | WYC | 13 | 10 | 6 | 22 | 22 | 51 |
| 13 | 416 | Chris Needham | Martin Stephens | Bala | 12 | 12 | 17 | 13 | 22 | 54 |
| 14 | 200 | Trevor Milton | Steve Dodgeson | | 8 | 14 | 14 | 22 | 22 | 58 |
| 15 | 410 | Huw Reynolds | Keith Borders | WYC | 6 | 22 | 11 | 22 | 22 | 61 |
| 16 | 393 | Mick Davidson | Terry Langehoff | WYC | 17 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 22 | 61 |
| 17 | 418 | Matt Fitch | Sean O'Connor | Weston | 10 | 13 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 64 |
| 18 | 405 | Nick Dewhirst | Stuart France | WYC | 15 | 18 | 21 | 11 | 22 | 65 |
| 19 | 400 | Stephen Buckle | Stephen Gerlis | WYC | 18 | 17 | 20 | 12 | 22 | 67 |
| 20 | 414 | Andrew Miller | Stephen Ettling | Nth Devon | 16 | 22 | 18 | 14 | 22 | 70 |
| 21 | 421 | Robert Stahl | Annette Chatten | Thorpe Bay | 20 | 19 | 15 | 22 | 22 | 76 |
