Squib National Championship at Holyhead Sailing Club

Squib National Championship at Holyhead Sailing Club - Day 2

by Vincent Delany 20 Jun 2017 19:45 BST 17-23 June 2017

Squib Nationals at Holyhead day 2 © Vincent Delany

What a stunning day's sailing was had in Holyhead today for the 43 boat Squib fleet, who sailed two races on Tuesday to compensate for having lost a race yesterday due to lack of wind.

In race two of the series David Lovegrove, the PRO, laid an even start line. The tide was ebbing, but it turned out not to be a significant aspect of the race. The fleet were evenly spread on the start line. Half of the fleet headed out on starboard tack on a heading of 350 degrees, while the rest of the fleet headed towards the cliffs, but when the latter tacked, just short of the lay line they found that they were heading at 004 degrees, benefitting from the wind bend coming off the shore. Despite the race consisting of two spinnaker reaching legs, and a spinnaker run, in a dying tide, the changes in boat position were relatively few. This seems to show that boat speed among the entire fleet is remarkably similar. The final placings in this race were:

1st 'Humphrey' Robert Coyle and Mark Rawinsky (Royal Corinthian Yacht Club)
2nd 'Aquabat' Mike Probert and Steve Warren Smith (Royal Victoria Yacht Club)
3rd 'Ric O'Shea' Josh Metcalf and Mark Hogan (South Caernarvonshire Yacht Club)

After a quick lunch afloat, the fleet went back into a starting sequence for race three. The PRO decided to 'Name and Shame' one of the Squibs which was over the start line at 40 seconds before the gun, it was 'Cariad Bach'. Eventually a clean start was achieved, on the third attempt to start, which was under a black flag. Again, the fleet split left and right. The advantage of heading to the cliffs was not as significant as previously. The leaders who were bunched, were 'Squib', 'Cariad Bach' and 'Insatiable'. This time the race was a windward-leeward race, a race type which some people feel is lacking in opportunities for the boats behind. On the second time reaching the leeward gate, Nigel and Jack Grogan in 'Helmut Shoing II' who were lying in about 5th place, took the brave move of heading for the starboard gate mark, because he had realised that the tide had turned. This brave move presented him with the lead in the race. Not a small lead, but at least 20 boat lengths from 'Cariad Bach'. On the third and final run, much of the fleet thought that they were following the Grogans, and failed to go through the gate on their way to the finish line. When they saw 'Cariad Bach' crossing the fleet on starboard, they were jolted them out of their sheep like behaviour, and reached up to the final gate before finishing.

Following a protest in race three between 'Ric o'Shea' and 'Helmut Shoing' who won that race, the overall results have been amended as follows:

1st 'Cariad Bach' Alan Johnson and David Garlick (South Caernarfonshire Y.C.)
2nd 'Insatiable' John and Lou Bibby (Treaddur Bay Sailing Club)
3rd 'Squib' Dick Batt and Pam Phelan (Victoria YC)

With three races sailed, many competitors are carrying remarkably high and low placings, but the top three boats in the overall rankings, which are showing some consistence in the competitive fleet, are all using Batt Sails, which can be no coincidence.

Results after Day 2:

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1	11	Squib	Richard Batt	Pamela Phelan	Royal Victoria YC	2	6	3	11
2	132	Cariad Bach	Alan Johnson	David Garlic	SCYC	5	7	1	13
3	136	RicO’Shea	Josh Metcalf	Mark Hogan	SCYC	7	3	6	16
4	23	Grayling	Richard Robinson	Mark Thompson	SCYC	9	8	4	21
5	47	Insatiable	John Bibby	Lou Bibby	TBSC	3	25	2	30
6	823	Humphrey	Robert Coyle	Mark Rawinsky	Royal Corinthian YC	14	1	18	33
7	73	Brimstone	Bryan Riley	Jenny Riley	WOB YC & RNSYC	11	13	9	33
8	137	Atomic	Philip Barnes	David Thomas	TBSC	12	14	8	34
9	13	Aquabat	Mike Probert	Steve Warren‑Smith	Royal Victoria YC	23	2	11	36
10	819	Lady Penelope	Malc Hutchings	Jaxs Hutchings	Royal Corinthian YC	10	9	17	36
11	800	Alchemy	Gerard P Dyson	Tony Saltonstall	Royal Yorkshire YC	1	22	14	37
12	789	Dream On	Brian Holland	Tony Sampson	SCYC	15	4	23	42
13	811	Spoof	MIckey Wright	Alex Porteous	RCYC	13	18	13	44
14	33	Incendio	David Lloyd	Mark Stones	Royal Victoria YC & Portsmouth SC	18	12	19	49
15	872	Pocahontas	Mike Hughes	Garry Catterall	SCYC	16	27	7	50
16	847	Lil Quickie	Tim Jones	David Miller	Holyhead Sailing Club & PYFMA	8	10	32	50
17	755	Cybi	Richard Roberts	John Jones	Holyhead Sailing Club & PDSC	19	5	28	52
18	48	Periquin	Noel Colclough	Vincent Delany	DLMYC	6	30	21	57
19	754	Mayhem	Steve Allso	Glenn Pritchard	SCYC	26	11	20	57
20	157	Chequemate	Ian Gray	Ian Simons	Royal Corinthian YC	20	26	12	58
21	797	Crossfire	Dave Best	Pete Richards	SCYC	DSQ	15	5	61
22	105	Helmut Shoing II	Nigel Grogan	Jack Grogan	Royal Corinthian YC	4	17	DSQ	62
23	57	Bobonski	Craig Hughes	Colin Hardner	Holyhead Sailing Club	22	16	24	62
24	28	Thistle	Richard Date	Mark McGary	Holyhead Sailing Club	21	28	15	64
25	807	Volante	Simon Watson	Brian Kelly	Killyleagh SC	27	31	10	68
26	111	Seven	Chris Neill	Helen Peters	TBSC	24	29	16	69
27	134	Allegro	Colm Dunne	Colm Daly	Kinsale YC	25	21	26	72
28	72	Guy Fawkes	Phil Aspinall	Howies Enkel	Royal Corinthian YC	17	23	34	74
29	845	Rock 'N' Roll	John Sparrow	Ralph Banthorpe	SCYC	30	24	22	76
30	836	Alky Pops	Capt Gareth Pritchard	Steve Panad McQuirk	Holyhead Sailing Club	33	20	25	78
31	96	Moonstone	Malcolm Blackburn	David Shiel	SCYC	35	19	36	90
32	880	Quidsin	Mark Knights	Ian Knights	RCYC	28	32	31	91
33	772	Threadbare	Tim Jones	William Jones	RYYC	32	37	27	96
34	791	Crazy Diamond	Oliver Hunt	Marc Moncrieff	WOB YC	31	36	30	97
35	62	Con Brio	Roger Sheers	Bill Smith	Holyhead Sailing Club	37	34	29	100
36	829	Kachina Too	David Hall	David Battye	Holyhead Sailing Club	34	35	33	102
37	878	Siadwell	Matthew Roberts	Tudur Owen	Holyhead Sailing Club	29	33	DSQ	103
38	198	Patriot	Pat Guest	Ted Alsop	Holyhead Sailing Club	36	38	35	109
39	900	Top Dog	Tony Gibson	Eric Lee	Stone SC	39	40	37	116
40	871	Granant	Jas Rutkowski	Captain Tudor	Holyhead Sailing Club	38	39	DNS	118
40=	856	Second Time Around	Peter Dale	Julian Smith	Rutland SC	DNC	DNC	DNC	132
40=	99	Rebound	Simon Lee	William Nomates	Holyhead Sailing Club	DNC	DNC	DNC	132