Hurricane 5.9 Nationals at Thorpe Bay Yacht Club

Hurricane 5.9 nationals at Thorpe Bay © TBYC

Hurricane 5.9 nationals at Thorpe Bay © TBYC

Hurricane 5.9 nationals at Thorpe Bay © TBYC

28 crews from England, Ireland and Australia massed on the sandy beaches of Thorpe Bay for the 23rd Hurricane Nationals. The hottest week of the summer so far, the perfect location and the second year of the new powerful square top mainsail attracted an entry 40% up on last year with crews from other multihull fleets vying for the title.

Grant Piggott, sail maker, former Hurricane National and European Champion, Nacra F18 dealer and ex-Tornado squad member borrowed a boat as did local Thorpe Bay sailor Kyle Stoneham, the current Tornado, UK F18 inland and Dart 15 National Champion. John Ready Hurricane 2006 National Champion joined forces with Australian Tornado, F18 and Windrush connoisseur Ryan Duffield. The most decorated pair in Hurricane folk lore; Andy Webb and Paul Gray from Harwich Town sailing club returned to the racing fleet, after a five year hiatus, in 2 sail mode to show the 3 sail boats what for !

Thursday Training Day

Andy Webb and I ran a tuning session for the fleet the day before nationals got under way to share everything that they know about getting the most out of the boat. The class web mistress, Maxine Oliver, produced a laminated 25 page tuning guide for every competitor to ensure everyone was stacked with knowledge! As we were to discover during the racing, the level of the fleet has progressed well since the introduction of the new mainsail and 16:1 downhaul, with crews finding the boat easier and faster to sail.

Friday (Races 1-3 of 8) light easterly winds

Race 1 - The fleet were away cleanly in 3-5knots, with Team Webb/Gray leading the fleet out to the Thorpe Bay shore and the port tack lay line. The skinny Harwich duo proved tough to catch in the light wind, despite their newly toned potbellies on their svelte frames! The big jib on the 2 sail mode boat proved difficult to hang on to by the smaller self tacking jibs of the 3 sail ‘SX’ rigged boats. Luckily rusty Webby’s lay line calls allowed the chasing team of Ready/Duffield to hang on to their tails upwind and make up a little on the runs. Fortunately the wind picked up by a couple of knots which allowed the SX kite to show its pace and depth as Ready/Duffield took Race 1 passing Webb/Gray on what turned out to be the last downwind leg as the race officer shortened the race on the 2nd lap. The Stone F18/Tornado pairing of Bawden and Tindale with a borrowed boat had their best result of the regatta finishing 3rd with Piggot and Sinclair from Weston in 4th.

Race 2 - The wind stayed at 6-8knots as the fleet got away from the line with several boats OCS, amongst them Ready/Duffield and Piggot/Sinclair who went back to restart. These points were to prove important later on in the regatta. Meanwhile the local father son crew Palmer/Palmer had their best result of the regatta winning race 2 declaring themselves contenders to the title, followed by fellow local hotshots Stoneham/Borwn with Rutland TT winners Hanmore/Pyman of Stone to fill the first 3 spots. The experienced light wind specialists from Stone SC Geoff Tindale and Clint Foreman took 4th.

Race 3 - The recently turned tide pushed over eager starters Piggot/Sinclair and Ready/Duffield over the line in race 3, Piggot/Sinclair decided not to go back much to their later regret as they scored an OCS. Bawden/Cox from Stone showed their class starting well and taking the gun with the local boat of Thomason/Hadley in 2nd meanwhile Ready/Duffield were glad of the race officer’s decision to run 4 laps giving them the opportunity to fight back to 3rd which turned out to be an important result later on in the regatta.

It was tight at the top at the end of the first day with just 2 points separating the West Mersea boat of Ready/Duffield (12 points) from Bawden/Cox (13points) and Tindale/Bawden (14points) both of Stone SC.

AGM

Nick Moore’s (Chairman) keynote speech, spoke of an enthusiastic committee and of an excellent 12 months for the class. He also suggested a ‘Reg White’ memorial trophy to be awarded annually for the best newcomer to the class much to the delight of those present. Struan Wallace (Treasurer) reported very healthy finances whilst Mark Mawdit (Membership) reported a new fleet forming in Netley and 10 boats joining the fleet since the dinghy show. The classes focus on welcoming new sailors has yielded good results. Rob Stahl (Technical) lead a discussion where the class agreed that the boats systems should continue to be evolved to improve performance and ease of boat handling whilst maintaining the boats legendary reliability and low cost. Adam Charlesworth (Fixtures) agreed to make arrangements for the 2011 Nationals to be held at Yaverland Isle of Wight.

An excellent BBQ with all sorts of games and high jinks kept sailors and their families amused until late into the night. Crews found time during the early evening to share experiences, information and engage in a bit of obligatory boat faffing and new faces got the chance to meet the gang in a fun filled evening in the lovely facilities of the Thorpe Bay Yacht club. The regular ‘Pro-Am’ series pairings were declared as the top of fleet sailors are matched with new sailors in a mini championships run to encourage and bring them on. The humorous ‘Numpty of the day’ hat was awarded to Pete Sherwin who ran into a moored boat off the slipway on the way out to the start!

Saturday (Races 4-6)

Yet another warm start and clear skys with an early gentle offshore made an afternoon sea breeze likely as the fleet looked forward to a 10:30 start time.

Race 4 & 5 - The wind picked up to force 3-4 with champagne sailing conditions for all, and as the tide turned it picked up the waves, with crews enjoying exciting spinnaker runs from the trapeze. As each race progressed the wind and waves picked up testing the crews just a little more on each leg. The crews of Hanmore/Pyman, Webb/Gray, Ready/Duffield, Piggot/Sinclair shared the top 4 spots in the next two races with Piggot/Sinclair in particular making a great start to the day winning race 4, keen to discard their OCS from the previous day. Webb/Gray tended to make conservative mid-line starts using the big 2 sail jib to fly like dynamos to the port tack lay line. Piggot/Sinclair, Ready/Duffield tended to fight for the committee boat end, then sailing a little higher. The 2 sail boat of Webb/Gray took the windward mark but couldn’t hold on as the SX rigs as they came into their own downwind dropping Webb/Gray to 3rd on the first downwind run.

In Race 5 the wind picked up with crews making on the water rig changes to help keep the steering grove open in the waves. This race was full of action with the lead changing many times and the stress began to show as high speed sailing lead to close calls on the way into the top mark. The top three were joined by the Stone crew of Hanmore/Pyman and pulled away from the field as these crews sent the boats hard downwind. Duffield/Ready had a near miss as the steering bar lifted off the tiller head downwind narrowly avoiding a swim and numpty of the day. There was little to chose between the leading boats, with downwind lay line calls making the difference as Hanmore/Pyman double gybed to avoid going through the start/finish line surrendering the lead to Ready/Duffield, but holding onto 2nd as they pushed Piggot//Sinclair into 3rd.

Race 6 - Became the race of ‘mice and men’, Ready/Duffield were early casualties with a failed mainsheet just after the start. Webb/Gray and Piggot/Sinclair showed their mettle pulling away from the fleet in their own private battle. They exchanged the lead three times during the race, a slight drop in the breeze and a stronger ebb tide took the edge off the Webb/Gray’s downwind speed allowing Piggott to save face from the pot bellied lightweights in the end! With half the fleet retiring capsized or with minor failures it was a two horse race. Hanmore/Pyman had been having their best results with a 3rd and 2nd but then capsized at the windward mark after a strong early showing and hindered their overall score. Bawden/Tindale dismasted following a shackle failure and remarkably suffered zero damage, they were racing the next day having found a new shackle! A little further down the fleet Mawdity/Louther revelled in the conditions posting their strongest finishes of the regatta with consecutive 5th place finishes.

Going into the last day Piggot/Sinclair & Ready/Duffield swapped positions with a point separating them. Webb/Gray were leading the 2 sail charge by holding off Bawden/Cox by 1 point also. Hanmore/Pyman & Palmer/Palmer tied 5th on 30 points.

Hog Roast & The singing, ventriloquist, magician comedian!

That night the fleet retired to the Thorpe bay yacht club balcony with its beautiful vistas over the Thames, whilst tucking into a very tasty Hogg roast. A little later having moved to the bar, the main act of the weekend’s entertainment took to the stage for a terrific set. Just how can one man be so funny?

Sunday ‘Judgement day’ (Races 7 & 8)

Going into the final day Piggot was in the driver’s seat with a one point advantage, which required Ready/Duffield to win both races. However, the early morning offshore breeze failed to materialise although it was a hot clear start to the day. The lead two crews chatted nervously as one prayed for no wind and the other had to get onto the water to attempt a steal. After a 2 hour delay the sea breeze teased its way up the Thames as a relieved 2nd place team made their way onto the water.

Race 7 - The light sea breeze came in from the east and the race officer set his course. The eager fleet moved onto the line a little early with Team Piggot/Sinclair caught on the line early and needing to run down the line, Team Ready/Duffield tucked in under their lee and pushed them over the line with 5 seconds to go, this was the final twist in the battle between these boats, Ready/Duffield took the gun sailing conservatively keeping their lanes clear and sailing fast. The light weather specialists Team Tindale/Foreman had sailed a blinder with their best result of the regatta pushing Piggot/Sinclair into a very creditable third place having turned back to restart. However the most notable team of the race were easily Doug Smith and Bill King from Starcross sailing out of their skins and into 4th place! What great progress they have made over the last season.

Race 8 - Going into the final race Ready/Duffield had taken a slender 1 point lead over Piggot/Sinclair and just needed to finish 1 place behind them to take the championship. A little match racing ensued in the final minute with the class chairman team of Moore/Oliver providing leeward protection to Ready/Duffield who were content to follow the leader round the course and keep their noses clean. Piggot/Sinclair had other ideas however as they tore away from the field and the father and son Team Palmer/Palmer filled in 2nd spot. On the final downwind leg a nervous Ready/Duffield squeezed through to leeward of the father and son team giving them the 2010 title on count back drawn on 1st places but having 2nd place finishes where Piggot/Sinclair had none.

Overall Results: