Albacore End of Season Review
by Mike Banner 11 Nov 2010 09:21 GMT
Judy and Paul Armstrong during the Albacore nationals at Lyme Regis © Mike Rice /
www.fotoboat.com
The 2010 season has seen even more growth in the National Albacore Class with eleven new boats plus five more on order coupled with great attendance at events around the country.
The year started in style with a great ‘Team Albacore’ win at the London Excel ‘Battle of the Classes’ event followed by a very encouraging March Dinghy Show featuring the Ovington Epoxy boat. Racing events got underway soon after with great turnouts (and plenty of beer) at Maidenhead, South Cerney, Rudyard and Weymouth plus a European Championships in Scotland.
In July an Albacore finished a close second to a 49er at the Bala Long distance event and a few weeks later the Nationals in the wind and waves of Lyme Regis were enjoyed (or endured!) by over 45 boats including the eventual winner, Barney Harris of USA. During the AGM at the Nationals Michael McNamara was elected as Chairman, a fitting reward for his tireless efforts within the Albacore class particularly in updating the rules to the new ISAF format with the RYA.
Follow on events were held at Swanage, Parkstone and Nottingham, with the most recent attracting 19 boats to the Northern Championships at Scaling Dam won by the most consistent fleet performers of 2010, husband and wife team, Judy and Paul Armstrong.
Looking forward to 2011 the UK Nationals move ‘up north’ to Llandudno in July followed by a rush to the shipping containers for the bi-annual International event during September in Toronto. These events are intermingled with a whole load of races across the country and you can find out more on our recently revamped web site www.albacore.org.uk (Thanks to Southern Rep. John Woffinden) or the class magazine ‘Alive’ which is due out before Christmas. If you need a final reminder of the wide-ranging appeal of this timeless dinghy just look at the January photo of the 2011 Fotoboat calendar.