National 18 Championship at Hayling Island Sailing Club
by Colin Chapman 1 Aug 2017 10:42 BST
24-28 July 2017
Hayling Island Sailing Club played host to over 70 sailors at the 2017 National 18 Championships in a week dominated by strong winds. Amongst the assembled sailors were double Olympic gold medallist Sarah Gosling, Hyde Sails one design supremo Dave Hall and Scottish Champion of Champions Stuart Urquhart. With the addition of some strong challengers from Ireland, the new Phil Morrison designed fleet was separated by only seconds.
Cork's multiple champion, Tommy Dwyer skippering 'Puss n Boot' showed all his experience early on taking two of the first four races, despite sustaining a leg injury in the first race of the week.
Despite not recording a race win, it was '50 Shades' sailed by Nick Walsh, Rob Brownlow and Eddie Rice that showed great consistency to take the Cock of the North trophy which goes to the boat that wins the first half of the week.
With a planned lay-day on Wednesday, and racing ultimately blown out on Friday, the results of Thursday proved to be crucial. Thursday turned out to be a day of strong winds and exhilarating sailing with winds in excess of 30 knots pushing boat speeds past 20 knots.
Despite being pushed all the way it was the crew of 50 Shades that gave a demonstration of heavy weather sailing to take both race wins on Thursday and with it the championship title. Ewen Barry and the crew of FOMO took 2nd place with a three way tie for 3rd place resolved in favour of Tommy Dwyer's Puss 'n Boot team.
With the stunning new Morrison design on display, the class continued to enhance its reputation for marrying the old and new with the classic 18s racing for their championships on the same course.
Close racing was also the order of the day in that fleet with only 1 point separating the top two boats before discard. In the end it was Tom Reid Nick Philips and Richard Stirrup sailing Theorette that beat Toucou sailed by Brian Hoolahan, Tim Reynolds and Andrew Young.
The fleet now returns to their home clubs to continue the racing season. With recent new orders it is expected that the class will see continued boat sales of this unique three man dinghy built by Rob White and his team at White Formula.
Overall Results:
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| Pos | Boat Name | Boat Country | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | Fifty Shades | IRL | 405 | Nick Walsh | Ed Rice | Rob Brownlow | RCYC | 2 | ‑5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| 2nd | FOMO | IRL | 414 | Ewen Barry | Stanley Browne | Dion Barrett | MBSC/ RCYC | ‑7 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 21 |
| 3rd | Puss in Boot | IRL | 402 | Tom Dwyer | Peter O'Donovan | Charlie Maloney | Royal Cork Y C | 1 | ‑6 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 26 |
| 4th | Shark | IRL | 418 | Charles Dwyer | Gratten Roberts | Robbie O'Sullivan | RCYC | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 4 | ‑7 | 26 |
| 5th | Howlin Mad | GBR | 407 | Stuart Urquhart | Richard Urquhart | Martin Cruden | Royal Findhorn Yacht Club | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | (DSQ) | 3 | 2 | 26 |
| 6th | Aquadisiacs | IRL | 404 | Colin Chapman | Morgan O'Sullivan | Ronan Walsh | Royal Cork Yacht Club | 6 | 3 | 3 | ‑8 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 28 |
| 7th | White Formula | GBR | 420 | David Hall | Chris Turner | Malcolm Jaques | Blackwater SC | 4 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 8 | (DNC) | 47 |
| 8th | Panther | GBR | 406 | jessica Berney | Hugo Berney | Michael Summers | Datchet Water Sailing Club | 5 | 8 | 8 | ‑11 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 52 |
| 9th | Hurricane | GBR | 401 | Oliver Houseman | Steve Watton | Andy Bellamy | Tamesis Club | 8 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 9 | (DNC) | DNC | 73 |
| 10th | The Shadwow | GBR | 412 | David Downs | Charlie Spraggs | Julian Berney | | (DNC) | DNF | 10 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 9 | DNC | 83 |
| 11th | The Good Wife | GBR | 403 | Greg Lamb | Jeremy Vines | Richard Leech | HISC | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 7 | 7 | DNF | 10 | DNC | 84 |
| 12th | Highland Fling | GBR | 413 | Kevin Davidson | Claire Laurie | Stephen Laurie | Royal Findhorn Yacht Club | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 9 | 9 | 7 | DNC | DNC | 85 |
| 13th | Odyssey | GBR | 400 | Matthew Jones | Dana Church | Kaan Yargicci | Tamesis Club | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 12 | 13 | 11 | DNF | DNC | 96 |
| 14th | Nimble | IRL | 419 | Dave Clancy | Dickie Mc Glade | Beckie Murphy | RCYC | (DNF) | DNC | DNC | 10 | 14 | DNF | DNC | DNC | 99 |
Classic Fleet Results:
| Pos | Boat Name | Category | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | Theorette | Classic | 133 | Tom Reid | Nick Philips | Richard Stirrup | Bosham SC | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | (UFD) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 2nd | toucou | Classic | 368 | Brian Hoolahan | Tim Reynolds | Andrew Young | Bosham SC | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 14 |
| 3rd | Finola | Classic | 225 | Paddy Mirams | Richard Watney | Mags Watney | Bosham SC | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | (DNF) | DNC | 23 |
| 4th | Ruby Tuesday | Classic | 316 | Matthew Gray | Stewart Reed | Tba | Bosham SC | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | (DNC) | 28 |
| 5th | Pegasus | Classic | 98 | Paul Kameen | Laura Kameen | Karen Philips | Bosham SC | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | (UFD) | 5 | 3 | 3 | 31 |
| 6th | Bellatrix | Classic | 9 | Frank McCormack | Michael Camps | Keith Bradley | Bosham SC | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 8 | 5 | 7 | 4 | DNC | 51 |
| 7th | Muc Dhoo | Penultimate | 346 | Trevor Chanter | William Chanter | Bryan Thompson | Bough Beech SC | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 7 | 4 | 6 | DNC | DNC | 53 |
| 8th | Genevieve | Penultimate | 266 | Charles Fox | Christopher Pollard | Stewart Colley | Tamesis Club | (DNF) | DNC | DNC | 5 | DNF | DNF | DNC | DNC | 59 |
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