Marblehead Class UK Nationals at Fleetwood

by Fleetwood Race Team 28 Jun 2012 11:12 BST 23-24 June 2012

Marblehead Class UK Nationals 2012 © Damian Ackroy

The 2012 UK Marblehead Nationals were held at Fleetwood MY & PBC over last weekend 23rd & 24th of June. Friday saw heavy rain and westerly winds gusting well over 30 knots with those skippers who arrived early looking for some extreme small rig practice being all but blown away. As Saturday dawned, skippers arrived to overcast skies and strong westerlies. Smallest rigs were chosen by all but the bravest and racing got underway with the 32 boat fleet split into 2 heats.

Interest focussed on the main players and those competing with new designs for the first time. At 18.00 hrs and after 11 rounds of high speed radio yacht racing being completed , Brad Gibson stood clearly at the top of the leader board with his new Grunge design with 9 wins. Following behind was a tight bunch led by Graham Bantock and Peter Stollery. On conclusion of racing skippers retired to the Fleetwood clubhouse for drink, a legendary Hotpot Supper and quiz hosted by MYA president Derek Priestly that was well received.

Sunday's racing saw the strong westerlies of Saturday abate back to 10-12 knots for the 9.30am start of racing with skippers upsizing rigs. At the front of the fleet, Gibson continued his winning ways after some close tussels with Bantock, Stollery and John Tushingham. Others to shine over the day as the wind steadily increased were class newcomer Trevor Binks, Martin Roberts, Derek Priestly and Robert Walsh.

With racing ending at 16.00 hrs, and the prize giving following soon after, Brad Gibson of was presented with the silverware with a net score of 15 points from 18 races after 3 discards. Second place went to the consistent sailing of Graham Bantock and third place to the fast finishing John Tushingham.

All competitors thanked the Fleetwood Race Team headed by PRO Chris Harris for a great race held in at times difficult conditions and headed off home with a renewed interest for the class and an eye on the next class open meeting to be held at Poole on the 22nd of July as part of the MYA GAMES series.

More great pictures and video coverage can be found on the event website at: rmnationals2012.wordpress.com

Overall Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the Marblehead nationals then fill in your Gear Guide information here

Pos	Helm	Sail No	Club/City	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	R15	R16	R17	R18	Pts
1	Brad Gibson	42	Birkenhead	1	1	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	15
2	Graham Bantock	85	Chelmsford	19	5	1	5	6	2	2	11	4	3	2	2	6	2	1	7	4	2	47
3	John Tushingham	123	Keighley	1	2	2	12	2	3	16	13	6	8	3	4	3	4	4	2	3	3	50
4	Peter Stollery	39	Guildford	3	4	4	2	4.5	18	4	6	2	2	12	3	4	7	9	5	2	5	57.5
5	Rob Walsh	25	Fleetwood	2	3	5	3	17	4	3	5	3	6	8	7	9	9	6	13	5	4	73
6	Martin Roberts	55	Birkenhead	2	11	6	9	7	5	6	2	7	6.6	7	19	5	6	3	17	8	11	90.6
7	Richard Hampson	15	Birkenhead	4	6	15	10	10	11	10	10	8	4	5	10	8	12	8	10	17	9	123
8	Laurent Gerbeaud	171	France	4	8	18	22	18	18	13	9	11	9	4	6	7	5	10	6	10	7	127
9	John Cleave	44	Ryde	6	9	8	4	11	9	8	14	12	5	14	9	14	11	13	18	18	15	147
10	Agustin Moreno	195	Chelmsford	10	16	20	20	19	14	9	3	10	13	6	5	11	8	12	8	12	12	149
13	Trevor Binks	119	Eastbourne	15	15	18	23	5	6	5	18	31	31	27	8	2	3	5	3	17	29	170
12	Henning Faas	68	Germany	5	12	13	7	9	15	27	20	5	7	9	19	22	13	17	17	7	8	163
11	Derek Preistley	164	Fleetwood	6	13	10	6	4	16	12	8	18	20	18	22	16	29	7	14	6	6	160
14	Martin Crysell	52	Guildford	11	23	19	21	14	8	7	16	31	18	22	12	10	10	15	4	9	10	184
15	Nigel Winkley	87	VdMYS (Germany)	5	7	7	8	12	10	17	19	31	23	20	19	18	19	29	11	14	14	200
16	Gilles Di Crescenzo	6	CV St Quentin (France)	12	19	12	13	13	13	15	22	19	10	11	14	12	14	17	29	29	29	216
19	Tony Guerrier	50	Three Rivers	7	14	9	15	31	21	20	25	9	14	21	23	23	33	11	17	29	29	258
17	Michel Brun	125	E S Renault (France)	7	21	33	18	20	19	22	18	18	11	15	20	20	18	14	12	13	19	242
18	Jon Elmaleh	69	USA	3	10	14	31	26	25	18	12	14	15	19	31	29	29	25	9	11	16	246
20	Roger Stollery	17	Guildford	10	22	16	16	23	23	25	15	22	27	10	13	29	17	19	19	19	17	261
22	John Taylor	96	Fleetwood	19	18	33	24	3	7	11	4	13	12	18	31	33	33	33	33	33	33	292
21	Damian Ackroyd	101	Leed & Bradford	11	18	11	14	21	27	21	21	18	25	24	20	13	25	21	22	24	23	282
25	Hugh McAdoo	16	Guildford	9	20	21	19	22	22	31	24	31	21	31	21	19	15	29	20	21	29	312
26	Josh King	24	Windrush	9	24	33	11	8	12	14	31	31	18	31	31	24	24	29	29	29	29	322
23	Bill Culshaw	21	Birkenhead	14	33	33	26	24	24	24	31	21	24	23	11	15	22	18	24	20	18	308
24	Peter Crisp	23	Swanley	19	33	33	31	25	20	23	23	20	22	13	19	25	26	20	23	17	13	308
27	Bernard Merlaud	19	CV Viry (France)	8	33	23	18	15	31	31	31	31	19	26	24	17	21	22	25	22	20	322
28	Terry Rensch	95	Guildford	12	26	22	31	31	31	26	26	31	26	25	26	21	23	23	21	23	21	352
29	Darin Ballington	46	Manor Park	8	33	33	31	31	26	19	7	15	31	18	31	33	33	33	33	33	33	382
31	John Brooks	58	Fleetwood	13	25	24	25	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	436
30	Alan Viney	51	Guildford	19	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	25	29	20	24	29	25	22	424
32	Peter Popham	71	Three Rivers	19	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	481