National 18 British and Irish Championships at West Mersea Yacht Club
by Jeremy Vines 27 Jul 2018 13:05 BST
15-20 July 2018
National 18 British and Irish Championships at West Mersea © Peter Hickson
The National 18s were out in force on the wide Blackwater estuary during the week of 15th to 20th July. Winds were in the south and were reinforced by sea breezes to a steady force 3 to 5. Add plenty of sunshine and this was the recipe for great sailing each day. Hosted in splendid style by West Mersea Yacht Club and Dabchicks Sailing Club, with considerable input from Blackwater SC, plus local expert Paul Jackson as Race Officer, some were saying it was the best event ever.
Entries came from England, Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man and France. Predominantly they were Morrison 'Ultras', but there were also a number of 'Ultimates' which raced in a separate fleet. Noticeable this year was an increase in family crews.
On the water there were three back-to-back races a day over four days, making 12 good races in all. Courses were windward/leeward leading to much close and tactical sailing and place changing both upwind and downwind. Early on and with several first places, it seemed that 'Shark Too' (Charlo Dwyer) would come out on top. However, 'Second Wife' (Tom Crosbie) took charge in the latter races. They ended equal on points overall, but the Crosbies took the major trophy by two points when the worst two results were discarded. Third was another Irish boat 'Fifty Shades' (Nick Walsh) and fourth a Scottish entry 'Two and half men' (Richard and Stuart Urquhart).
It was noticeable that the English are closing the gap with two boats taking several top three places and 'Hurricane' (Ollie Houseman) taking sixth place overall.
The 'Ultimate' prize was won by Crossfire (Antony Ellis) from the Isle of Man in fine style crewed by his son Nickolas who, at 11 years old, was much the youngest competitor.
Ashore there was abundant night life with variously oysters, belly dancers from Southend, musicians from Mersea Island, the 80th Anniversary Dinner and two jolly sing songs ending in traditional style with Tom Dwyer's rendition of 'Paddy McGinty's Goat'.
Thank you West Mersea. Please can we come again?
Further information about the National 18 British and Irish Championship and the class's 80th Anniversary celebrations can be found at www.national18.com or by emailing
Ultra Class:
If you finished in the top ten at the National 18 nationals then enter your Gear Guide information here
| Pos | Boat Name | Country | Sail No | Club | Helm | Crew | Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | Second Wife | IRL | 417 | Royal Cork YC | Tom CROSBIE | Chloe CROSBIE | Patrick CROSBIE | 1 | 2 | 2 | -6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -6 | 21 |
| 2nd | Shark Eleven | IRL | 418 | Royal Cork Yacht Club | Charlo DWYER | Johnny DURCAN | Robbie ENGLISH | -5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 23 |
| 3rd | Fifty Shades | IRL | 405 | Royal Cork Yacht Club | Nick WALSH | Rob BROWNLOW | Eddie RICE | 4 | 4 | -8 | 2 | -5 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 29 |
| 4th | Two and half men | GBR | 420 | Royal Findhorn Yacht Club | Stuart URQUHART | Richard URQUHART | Martin CRUDEN | 2 | 1 | (OCS) | 5 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 5 | -8 | 3 | 37 |
| 5th | Aquadisiacs | IRL | 404 | Royal Cork Yacht Club | Colin CHAPMAN | Morgan O'SULLIVAN | James MCCAN | 3 | -8 | (OCS) | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 40 |
| 6th | Hurricane | GBR | 401 | Tamesis | Ollie HOUSEMAN | Jeremy VINES | Steve Watton | -9 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 | -9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 56 |
| 7th | Second Chance | GBR | 403 | Blackwater Sailing Club | Bryan SARGEANT | Jack GROGAN | Will Sargeant | (DNF) | 7 | 3 | 8 | 11 | (DSQ) | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 8 | 65 |
| 8th | Puss n’Boot | IRL | 402 | Royal Cork YC | Tom DWYER | Peter O'DONOVAN | | (OCS) | 5 | 6 | (OCS) | 6 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 77 |
| 9th | Panther | GBR | 406 | Blackwater SC | Jessica BERNEY | Gregor DAVIDSON | Hugo Berney | 6 | 9 | 5 | (OCS) | 8 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 10 | -14 | 81 |
| 10th | The Shadow | GBR | 412 | Blackwater SC | Julian BERNEY | Maria RICHARDS | Graham Hoy | 7 | -10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 8 | -12 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 83 |
| 11th | SHUCK'EM | IRL | 409 | | Jamie DWYER | Kieran DWYER | | 8 | -12 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | -12 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 90 |
| 12th | Optimus Prime | GBR | 421 | Tamesis Club | Matthew JONES | Kaan YARGICI | | 10 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 12 | 11 | 11 | -14 | -15 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 109 |
| 13th | Highland Fling | GBR | 413 | Royal Findhorn Yacht Club | Kevin DAVIDSON | Claire LAURIE | Stephen Laurie | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | (RET) | (DNC) | 13 | 13 | 11 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 124 |
| 14th | Odyssey | GBR | 400 | Blackwater Sailing Club | Steve PERKINS | Jack PERKINS | Perkins son | (DNF) | (DNC) | DNC | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 127 |
| 15th | Nimble | IRL | 419 | Royal Cork YC | Dave CLANCY | Deirdre TOBIN | | 12 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 12 | -15 | -15 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 134 |
Ultimate Class:
| Pos | Boat Name | Country | Sail No | Club | Helm | Crew | Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | Crossfire | IOM | 303 | Isle of Man YC | Antony ELLIS | Stuart BREW | Nickolas ELLIS | -1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 1 | 10 |
| 2nd | Muc Dhoo | GBR | 346 | Bough Beech SC | Trevor CHANTER | William CHANTER | Lucy SMITH | 2 | -3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 19 |
| 3rd | RAFFLES | IRL | 352 | Centre Nautique De St Pol | Mathieu PERETTI | Stephan PERETTI | Laura Peretti | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | (DNC) | (OCS) | 2 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 31 |