Squib National Championship at Holyhead Sailing Club

Squib National Championship at Holyhead Sailing Club - Overall

by Vincent Delany 23 Jun 2017 22:15 BST 17-23 June 2017

Squib Nationals at Holyhead 2017 © Peter Newton / www.peternewton.zenfolio.com

Unlike every other day this week, in what was generally a light air championship, the wind at the end of Holyhead breakwater was recorded to be blowing 22 knots this morning, with gusts of 27 knots. The forecast suggested gusts of 30 knots could be experienced during the day. David Lovegrove, the event PRO, went afloat at 10.00hrs, and headed to the south end of the race area off Carreg-y-Fran, where there was a confused sea, with a large swell surmounted by a short chop. Under the circumstances, he made the difficult decision to abandon racing for the day.

It was a difficult decision to make, in the light of the championship results over five races, with joint leaders, which were:

'Ric O'Shea' No. 136 sailed by Josh Metcalf and Mark Hogan, with (7), 3, 6, 4, 1 placings, or a total of 14 points. This boat had previously won the Squib championships in 2001, '02, '03, '04, '05, '06, '09, '11, '15, and for the past 13 years, Mark Hogan was the skilful and regular crew.

'Squib' No. 11 sailed by Dick Batt and Pamela Phelan, with 2, 6, 3, 3, (15) placings, or a total of 14 points. Dick with a different crew won the Squib championships previously, thirty-one years ago, in 1986, in 'Melody'.

Under the RRS regulation A8, a tie is resolved by comparing race results, and awarding the championship to the Squib with the greatest number of first places, etc., so the 2017 winner is 'Ric O'Shea'.

The conclusion among Squib sailors, is that there are so many fast boats, (probably 20 Squibs were capable of winning this year's championship) it was not a championship to find the fastest boat, but rather a championship to find the smartest sailors. The rigging and tuning of Squib keelboats has developed over many years, and this year there do not appear to be any technical developments (within strict Class rules) which make the boats faster. There is currently a technical plateau. This is born out by the high-scoring championship results, in which the top six boats discarded 7th, 15th, 23rd, 33rd, 10th, and 17th places respectively. Over the fives race series, there were five different race winners, with three different sailmakers. For the record they were:

Race 1: 'Alchemy' No. 800, Gerard Dyson and Tony Saltonstall from Royal Yorkshire Y.C..
Race 2: 'Humphrey' No. 823, Robert Coyle and Mark Rawinski from Royal Corinthian Y.C.
Race 3: 'Cariad Bach' No. 132, Alan Johnston and David Garlick from South Caernarfonshire Y.C.
Race 4: 'Chequermate' No. 157, Ian Gray and Ian Simons from Royal Corinthian Y.C.
Race 5: 'Ric O'Shea' No. 136, Josh Metcalf and mark Hogan from South Caernarfonshire Y.C.

Congratulations go to Holyhead Sailing Club for running an enjoyable and well-behaved regatta.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts
1	136	RicO'Shea	Josh Metcalf	Mark Hogan	SCYC	‑7	3	6	4	1	14
2	11	Squib	Richard Batt	Pamela Phelan	Royal Victoria YC	2	6	3	3	‑15	14
3	13	Aquabat	Mike Probert	Steve Warren‑Smith	Royal Victoria YC	‑23	2	11	6	2	21
4	132	Cariad Bach	Alan Johnson	David Garlic	SCYC	5	7	1	‑33	12	25
5	23	Grayling	Richard Robinson	Mark Thompson	SCYC	9	8	4	‑10	5	26
6	819	Lady Penelope	Malc Hutchings	Jaxs Hutchings	Royal Corinthian YC	10	9	‑17	12	4	35
7	137	Atomic	Philip Barnes	David Thomas	TBSC	12	‑14	8	5	10	35
8	157	Chequemate	Ian Gray	Ian Simons	Royal Corinthian YC	20	‑26	12	1	3	36
9	823	Humphrey	Robert Coyle	Mark Rawinsky	Royal Corinthian YC	14	1	18	7	‑19	40
10	811	Spoof	MIckey Wright	Alex Porteous	RCYC	13	‑18	13	9	6	41
11	800	Alchemy	Gerard P Dyson	Tony Saltonstall	Royal Yorkshire YC	1	‑22	14	14	13	42
12	105	Helmut Shoing II	Nigel Grogan	Jack Grogan	Royal Corinthian YC	4	17	(DSQ)	16	9	46
13	73	Brimstone	Bryan Riley	Jenny Riley	WOB YC & RNSYC	11	13	9	‑18	14	47
14	47	Insatiable	John Bibby	Lou Bibby	TBSC	3	‑25	2	21	22	48
15	33	Incendio	David Lloyd	Mark Stones	Royal Victoria YC & Portsmouth SC	18	12	19	2	‑23	51
16	797	Crossfire	Dave Best	Phil Snewin	SCYC	(DSQ)	15	5	30	8	58
17	847	Lil Quickie	Tim Jones	David Miller	Holyhead Sailing Club & PYFMA	8	10	32	8	‑33	58
18	789	Dream On	Brian Holland	Tony Sampson	SCYC	15	4	23	24	‑28	66
19	48	Periquin	Noel Colclough	Vincent Delany	DLMYC	6	30	21	‑31	11	68
20	872	Pocahontas	Mike Hughes	Garry Catterall	SCYC	16	‑27	7	22	24	69
21	754	Mayhem	Steve Allso	Glenn Pritchard	SCYC	‑26	11	20	15	26	72
22	28	Thistle	Richard Date	Mark McGary	Holyhead Sailing Club	21	‑28	15	17	21	74
23	72	Guy Fawkes	Phil Aspinall	Howies Enkel	Royal Corinthian YC	17	23	‑34	19	17	76
24	755	Cybi	Richard Roberts	John Jones	Holyhead Sailing Club & PDSC	19	5	28	27	‑35	79
25	134	Allegro	Colm Dunne	Colm Daly	Kinsale YC	25	21	‑26	26	7	79
26	57	Bobonski	Craig Hughes	Colin Hardner	Holyhead Sailing Club	22	16	24	‑29	18	80
27	807	Volante	Simon Watson	Brian Kelly	Killyleagh SC	27	‑31	10	28	20	85
28	96	Moonstone	Malcolm Blackburn	David Shiel	SCYC	35	19	‑36	11	27	92
29	111	Seven	Chris Neill	Helen Peters	TBSC	24	29	16	25	‑37	94
30	836	Alky Pops	Capt Gareth Pritchard	Steve Panad McQuirk	Holyhead Sailing Club	33	20	25	20	‑34	98
31	845	Rock 'N' Roll	John Sparrow	Ralph Banthorpe	SCYC	‑30	24	22	23	29	98
32	878	Siadwell	Matthew Roberts	Tudur Owen	Holyhead Sailing Club	29	33	(DSQ)	13	32	107
33	880	Quidsin	Mark Knights	Ian Knights	RCYC	28	32	31	‑35	16	107
34	791	Crazy Diamond	Oliver Hunt	Marc Moncrieff	WOB YC	31	‑36	30	32	25	118
35	772	Threadbare	Tim Jones	William Jones	RYYC	32	‑37	27	34	31	124
36	62	Con Brio	Roger Sheers	Bill Smith	Holyhead Sailing Club	37	34	29	36	‑38	136
37	829	Kachina Too	David Hall	David Battye	Holyhead Sailing Club	34	35	33	(DNC)	DNC	143
38	871	Granant	Jas Rutkowski	Captain Tudor	Holyhead Sailing Club	38	39	(DNS)	37	30	144
39	198	Patriot	Pat Guest	Ted Alsop	Holyhead Sailing Club	36	‑38	35	38	36	145
40	900	Top Dog	Tony Gibson	Eric Lee	Stone SC	39	‑40	37	39	39	154