Mirror Northern Championships at Royal Windermere Yacht Club

Snow on the hills for the Mirror Northerns at Windermere © Alan Henderson / www.fotoboat.com

David Conlon & Mitchell Bond during the Mirror Northerns at Windermere © Alan Henderson / www.fotoboat.com

Nicola Brook & Hannah Mitchell during the Mirror Northerns at Windermere © Alan Henderson / www.fotoboat.com

The MCA Northern Championships were held at the Royal Windermere Yacht Club over the weekend 16/17th April. The event was the final World Championship grant and qualifier round.

Around 39 sailors entered the competition, coming from as far away as Cornwall and Kent. The competitors were from the Junior, Youth, Adult and Master age range. Their abilities ranged from basic sailing, through to national squad members, some of whom were previous competitors in the Mirror World Class Championships in Tasmania, 2003.

The event started at noon on Saturday. It was cool; around 4°C at best, the water was not quite so warm. The sky was grey and overcast; the clouds had the underlying threat of rain about them. The local foliage was sparse, an odd daffodil poked its head warily into the chilly air, and the trees were leafless. The fell tops to the north were slate grey with evidence of a light snowfall on Friday night showing white in the gullies. The only signs of spring were the lambs gambolling in fields adjacent to the lake. Notwithstanding these hardships, the sailors assembled on the water off Belle Grange. This is the same stretch of lake that had witnessed the breaking the world water speed record on Friday 13th June 1930, when Sir Harry Seagrave piloted Miss England II along the lake at an average speed of 98.7 mph. He was to crash later that day whilst piloting the boat at an estimated speed of 120mph. He died shortly afterwards at Belle Grange. However, the Mirror sailors were unlikely to witness anything like that over the weekend. The 10 knots speed limit had been introduced earlier this month, and although the wind was brisk, there was little likelihood that the even the best sailor on the water would get anywhere near that speed.

And so it got off to a cracking start. The sailors were eager, the wind was a good, fresh southerly, the start line was set, the race started; then there was a general recall. The sailors were so eager to get going, many were over the line before they should have been. The second time around saw a much more disciplined start line and the race got under way. The course was of the ‘Olympic’ variety, more usually known as the ‘triangle – sausage’, ‘sausage sandwich’ or ‘banger butty’. It was clear from the early stages that the event was going to be dominated by only a few boats. It was a case of ‘perm any one from seven’ The local boats ‘Av It’ helmed by Anna MacKenzie and ‘Rush’ helmed by Emma Houlihan (both Royal Windermere YC) were in the running, but so too were Logical – Peter Gray from Staunton Harold (Derbys): Whatever – John Clementson from Chipstead (Kent): Vengeance – Juliet Long from Plym YC (Cornwall): Benina Milkshake – Hector Cisneros from Reading SC (Berks) and Female o/t Species – Shaun Mason from Hill Head SC (Hamps). All of these boats would be consistent features in the top ten all weekend. And so it turned out in race 1. The winner was Peter Gray, followed by Anna MacKenzie, then Shaun Mason.

Race 2 saw first and second places swap over, with third place going to Juliet Long. The third and final race of Saturday saw Peter Gray return to first place, Anna MacKenzie in second and John Clementson in third. A special mention must be made of Juliet Long, who came fourth, as ‘Whatever!’ was her boat last year! Saturday’s overnight positions were 1 – Gray 2- MacKenzie 3- Clementson.

Sunday morning came around earlier, slightly brighter and a tad warmer than Saturday was (it was 6°C). The wind had stayed in the south and had maintained its force (3 to 4ish). The forecast, however, was not so good. We were promised a bright and breezy start, but steadily deteriorating into the early afternoon, when the storm would hit. Word from the 420 fleet in Mumbles was that the storm may be too severe for them to compete. It was imperative that the Windermere fleet took full advantage of the good conditions at the earliest opportunity. Racing was scheduled to start at 10.35 prompt and it did, no messing about this time. However, it seems that some of the previous days leaders had been partying too hard in the pubs and clubs of Bowness!

Race 4 of the 6 race series saw Juliet Long came in first place, with Ed Fitzgerald from Itchenor (Hamps) 2nd and Peter Gray 3rd.

Race 5 followed hard on its heels. A handful of competitors received individual recalls. The wind had freshened considerably since the start of the day and the first two boats to the windward mark were to remain virtually unchallenged for the remainder of the race. Once they had tacked off towards the wing mark, the rest of the fleet arrived. Oh! What fun they had as the best part of 37 boats all tried to round the mark at more or less the same time. Luckily, the Jury boat was paying close attention to the carry on and RYA coaches Peter Aitken and Matt McGovern were filming too. Meanwhile, the two lead boats consolidated their position with a clear break from the rest of the pack. The next few boats, however, had different ideas about letting them off quite so easily and began to chase them down. A good fight was put up, but to no avail. The race finished much as it began with John Clementson coming 1st; Emma Houlihan 2nd and Anna MacKenzie 3rd.

The sixth and final race of the event saw the wind staying in the south but dropping a few knots, but still staying quite brisk. In order to eliminate the free for all at the windward mark, the race Officer decided to lengthen the first beat by about 150 metres. It had the desired effect, ensuring that the fleet arrived at a steady rate, rather than as a great clump. The race saw another new face on the leader board as it drew to a close. This time it was Martin Egan in Bold Forester from Restronguet (Cornwall), who took first place. Second was the ever present Peter Grey and third was John Clementson.

The sailors all enjoyed a quick beat back to the clubhouse, covering the best part of 2 km in less than 30 minutes. Once everyone was changed and the protest was dealt with, it was time for the prize giving ceremony.

Overall Results:

Gold Fleet:
1st Peter Gray & Rachael Williamson (Staunton Harold)
2nd Anna MacKenzie & Holly Scott (RWYC)
3rd John Clementson & Jamie Clementson (Chipstead SC)

Silver Fleet:
1st Lilly Carlisle & Becky Wallbank (Ripon)
2nd Philip Benn & Oliver Townsend (Ripon SC)
3rd David Moore & Jack Moore (Blithfield SC)

Bronze Fleet:
1st Lucy Maine & Sheoa Sweeney (RWYC)
2nd Hannah Parkinson & George Gordon (RWYC)
3rd Oliver Merrick & Olivia Asher (RWYC)

Northern Championship Team Trophy:
Royal Windermere YC
Anna MacKenzie & Holly Scott, Emma Houlihan & Emily MacKenzie, Gavin Tullett and Henry Westropp