Lord Birkett Memorial Trophy at Ullswater Yacht Club
by Sue Giles 5 Jul 2005 08:42 BST
2-3 July 2005
Lester & Lee Noble win the Lord Birkett Memorial Trophy at Ullswater in their 49er © Parry Coates
Sponsored by Boddingtons
Local 49er sailors Lester and Lee Noble won the Lord Birkett Trophy at Ullswater Yacht Club for the second year running on July 2 and 3.
Entries for the event, sponsored by Boddingtons, broke the 200 barrier this year at 205 and included a wide range of boats from a Mirror to 49ers and cruisers. This classic race is a long distance handicap event in which all boats race the full length of Ullswater, round an island at the Southern end, and back on both days.
The Lord Birkett Memorial Trophy commemorates the successful defence of the right to access Ullswater which was threatened with reservoir status in the early 1960s.
Saturday’s race started in a force 3-4 wind and even though there were more than 200 boats competing for the best positions on the start line across the full three-quarter mile width of the lake the fleet got away at the first attempt. The brisk southerly wind led to tricky, gusty conditions on the beat all the way to Norfolk Island, a distance of around eight miles.
Brothers Lester and Lee Noble soon took the lead in their 49er and were first round the island. They were followed by a bunch of other asymmetric boats – including Musto Skiffs, 49ers and 29ers. They all headed back with spinnakers up for the charge to the North end of the lake. The Noble brothers stretched out their lead to complete the course in one hour twenty minutes, winning the race on handicap. In second and third place on handicap were Musto Skiffs sailed by Ian Trotter of Derwent Reservoir SC and Martin Boatman of Sunderland Yacht Club.
Further down the fleet the boats rounding the island later found themselves running back down the lake in very different conditions. The second group of boats fell prey to conflicting wind patterns and struggled to keep going in the light airs. When the stronger wind did return it brought with it boats from behind, creating place changes all through the fleet.
Sunday’s wind, a south westerly force four, stayed reasonably constant for the whole race and created a perfect eight-mile long windward leeward course for the asymmetric boats. This time the Noble brothers stormed ahead and completed the course in just one hour eight minutes to win line honours and on handicap. Second on handicap was Birkett veteran Howard Steavenson of Tynemouth SC, crewed by Philip Wade in an International 14, with Ian Turnbull of Sunderland YC third in a Musto Skiff.
With two firsts, the Nobles won the trophy for the second year running – Lee is also a past winner in an International Canoe. Musto Skiffs tied for the next three places on 7 points with Ian Turnbull taking second, Martin Boatman third and Ian Trotter fourth.
The huge entry meant there were a record number of prizes for fleets with more than six entries as well as special categories. And a special award was made to the first Ovington-built boat in memory of Dave Ovington. Lester and Lee in the 49er won the prize - there were eight Ovington boats in the top ten places.
Overall Results:
1 Lester & Lee Noble, 49er (Ullswater)
2 Ian Turnbull, Musto Skiff (Sunderland)
3 Martin Boatman, Musto Skiff (Sunderland)
4 Ian Trotter, Musto Skiff (Derwent Reservoir)
5 Matty & James Lyons, 49er (Ullswater)
6 Mark and Jonathan Simpson, 49er, (Ullswater)
Special prizes:
First Under 21 – Matty and James Lyons, 49er, UYC
First Under 18 – Callum Findlay, Laser Radial , UYC
First Cruiser – Robin Barratt, Nigel Hampson, Robin Stanley, Etap, UYC
First UYC Boat – Lester and Lee Noble, 49er
First Six-year-old – Owen Lewis, Mirror
Full results are on the UYC website at www.ullswateryachtclub.org