Cork 1720 English Nationals at Brighton Marina Yacht Club

The previous weeks weather had more suited the bathers on the infamous Brighton nudist beach, with sweltering temperatures and calm airs. As the Corks began to arrive at Brighton Marina it was looking as though racing was going to be a sunny drift. Premier Marine, the new owners of Brighton Marina swiftly launched the 20+ Corks on the Friday evening, allowing the crews the opportunity to discuss light win tactics on the Club terrace over a cool lager.

On Saturday morning, race office Paul Carpenters alcoholic celibacy on the Friday night was rewarded with a steady F3 easterly and a cobalt blue sky, with better forecast for the Sunday – maybe it was the luck of the Irish and the Celtic yacht connection.

The fleet of 21 may have been small by the previous year’s entries, but the quality was certainly not lacking. With 4 races on the Saturday and a further 3 on the Sunday it was looking set to be a busy weekend afloat. The 1st race got off to a clean start, must be a record for a Nationals ! It didn’t take long, on the short windward / leeward course along the beach, for the fleet to split and after a couple of laps it was Full Pelt, YachtsandYachting.com, Billy Pickles Flying, Holo Graphic and Proctor Masts who broke away from the fleet to show a clean pair of heels. Returning to the Club for lunch is a novelty for the Cork sailors and a few opted for sarnies afloat in nearly 30 degrees. The sensible ones made good use of BMYC’s facilities and a tempting cool drink. After a lunch break Ian Grays ‘Holo Graphic’ seemed to loose the plot, and it was only Peter Jackson’s ‘Mr Briger’ and David Thomes’s local Cork ‘SDM’, with Neil Angel on the stick, that could break into the ‘gang of four’ at the front of the fleet.

Saturday night will be remembered for years to come as the night ‘we beat the Germans – again’ and many crews didn’t hold back on toasting the English football well into the night.

Sunday’s weather looked better than Saturday, if that was possible, Mediterranean temperatures and steady winds seemed order of the day. Many boats were scrabbling around in an attempt to make the 10am start line, with the link only minutes from the Premier Marina berths many were glad they weren’t sailing on The Solent, where they may have just made the 2nd race. Russell Peters aboard Jon Abrahams ‘Billy Pickles Flying’ was a bit too keen and had time to gather his thoughts after being OCS with no hope of re-rounding and catching the fleet – that would be his discard! Once again it was the four ‘usual suspects’ leading the fleet with ‘Full Pelt’ taking a percentage penalty on the black flag start and ‘Proctor Masts’ slumping to 11th in race 6. Callum Edge from Anglesey on board ‘Barbarian’ was finding pace on the Sunday, maybe it was something he drank the night before responsible for his change of fortune ? – with local sailor Joe Fields on the foredeck he popped in a 3-2-4 in the final races, it wouldn’t be enough to get them in the chocolates though.

You need to be a rocket scientist to work out who was going to depart with the Premier Marina’s crystal decanter. A 9th place in the final race for Stewart Hawthorn about ‘YachtsandYachting.com’ wasn’t what the doctor ordered which meant he had to carry a 6th onto his score sheet. That alone was enough to drop to 2nd overall. So it was the ‘Full Pelt’ team skippered by Jo Richards who took the overall win with the whole crew benefiting from some excellent prize fleeces courtesy of Premier Marina and Jo departing Cork English National Champion.

Sunshine, steady winds, open sea and congenial Club are all the ingredients for a top regatta, Brighton got it spot on.

Overall Results:

1st Jo Richards        Full Pelt             11pts
2nd Stewart Hawthorn   YachtsandYachting.com 18pts
3rd Jonothan Abrahamas Billy Pickles Flying  20pts
4th Mark Rushall       Proctor Masts         22pts
5th Callum Edge        Barbarian             31pts

More Information:

• YachtsandYachting.com Cork 1720 Page
• Cork 1720 Website