Shadow Nationals at Brightlingsea Sailing Club

by Olly Harris 29 Sep 2008 17:24 BST 26-28 September 2008

20 teams for the Shadow nationals during 'Reg Fest 2008' at Brightlingsea © Tim Bees / www.fotoboat.com

The Shadow Nationals took place on 26-28th September as part of “Reg Fest 2008”, with three of the cat classes that Reg White has produced gathered together at the home of cat sailing to help celebrate Reg’s retirement. A great turnout of 20 Shadows produced fantastic close racing and confirms the Shadow as the number one fast singlehanded cat class in the UK.

Friday provided perfect force 3-4 conditions with a big course out to sea- easy to see why this was the perfect area to develop the modern catamaran in the 1960s. Yves Loday lead from the start, chased by Olly Harris and Robin Leather. Yves broke his tiller before the last run, but still managed to win, having repaired it while blasting downwind only a little slower than normal! Race 2 saw the newer sailors getting to grips with the boat and a lot of place changing right through the fleet. Yves capsized, letting Laurie Gustar and Tim Swinburn fight for the lead. The choice between inshore or offshore was tricky in the strong tide and Carl Blenkinsop got it right, appearing at the finish to take the race and Ian Cuthberton also having a great race in 4th. Race 3 was the windiest, with Yves back in the lead, Olly 2nd and Robin Leather 3rd plus a tight race mid fleet and a lot of very fast downwind battles going on.

Friday evening featured Bob Fisher presenting the story of Reg’s sailing career, and the surprise appearance of his 1976 Gold Medal winning crew John Osborne, making it three gold medallists present. Race 4 on Saturday started in a light sea breeze which gradually strengthened. These conditions produced very close racing right through the fleet with Laurie beating Olly for 2nd place and David Brief going very well in 4th. In Race 5, Yves capsized again, earning him the prize for most capsizes, but was up in a flash and past leader Robin by the second lap. This time, Dave Lowe found more speed to come 3rd, with a number of “photo finishes” further back. At the start of Race 6, a number of boats were OCS and the windier conditions saw the familiar order of Yves then Olly, but with Carl and Ian Smith up in 3rd and 4th places. From first to last, the gaps between boats were very small, showing the appeal of strict one design racing.

Saturday night featured an amazing live band sponsored by Towergate Mardon, including a guest appearance on lead guitar and vocals from new Shadow sailor Dermot Mangan. Sunday was very light and shifty, with only one race in which the lead changed between Yves and Olly with Carl and Laurie close behind. Carl hit the final gate mark, but did his turn and still held onto 3rd place, securing 3rd overall on equal points with Laurie.

Organisation and catering throughout the event was superb, including teas after racing sponsored by English Braids. Prizes were sponsored by Loday White and Hyde sails. This was a hugely successful and fun event, thanks to the efforts of Brightlingsea sailing club and the White family. The Shadows, Spitfires and Hurricanes look forward to getting together for other events and returning to Brightlingsea in the future.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Pts
1st	76	Yves Loday	CN Le Pouliguew	-1	-10	1	1	1	1	1	5
2nd	48	Olly Harris	Weston SC	2	-7	2	3	-4	2	2	11
3rd	44	Carl Blenkinsop	Gurnard S.C	7	1	4	-9	-13	3	3	18
4th	63	Laurie Gustar	Gurnard SC	4	2	(DSQ)	2	6	(OCS)	4	18
5th	56	Robin Leather	Gurnard S.C	3	6	3	-7	2	6	-13	20
6th	66	Tim Swinburn	Grafham Water S.C	5	3	7	-11	5	-8	8	28
7th	32	Mike Martin	Gunard S.C	-9	5	6	6	-7	7	6	30
8th	69	Ian Smith	Rutland S.C	6	-14	5	-13	11	4	7	33
9th	29	D Brief	Grafham water S.C	-15	11	9	4	14	5	-17	43
10th	54	Phil Neal	Rutland S.C	8	9	8	-10	8	-11	10	43
11th	12	Dave Lowe	Rutland S.C	11	-12	12	8	3	10	-16	44
12th	26	Ian Cuthberton	Island Y.C	10	4	(DNF)	5	12	15	(DNC)	46
13th	59	Jacques Devaux	C N B Le Pouliguin	12	8	10	-18	-19	12	9	51
14th	17	Rob Forrester	Highcliffe S.C	-13	13	11	(OCS)	9	13	11	57
15th	18	P Tanner	Gurnard S.C	16	-18	15	-17	10	17	5	63
16th	75	Dermot Mangan	Blessington S.C	14	-16	14	16	-17	9	12	65
17th	33	Graham Tomlin	Eastbourne soverign SC	-19	-17	13	12	15	16	14	70
18th	67	S. Stannard	Dee S.C	-17	15	16	15	16	14	-18	76
19th	31	Chas Bedford	I O S S C	-18	-19	17	14	18	18	15	82
20th	2	Bruce Vigar	Herne Bay Y.C	20	(DNF)	(DNS)	19	20	19	DNC	99