Minisail Class Championship at Bowmoor Sailing Club
by Steve Whitby 19 Sep 2018 07:32 BST
18-19 August 2018
Steve Whitby and Rupert Whelan during the Minisail Class Championship at Bowmoor © Ronny De Gruyter
Eight Minisails attended the 2018 Nationals, held as a part of the Bowmoor CVRDA event on 18th & 19th August. A strengthening breeze through the weekend providing plenty of challenge.
Rupert Whelan was consistently quick in the first two races on Saturday, but a DNF in race three saw him trailing on points overnight.
Sunday dawned even windier with several hesitant about sailing, two Minisails retired after a lap of planing reaches and gusty gybes with Rupert winning the first race to put him back ahead.
The final race saw the strongest wind of the weekend with more capsizes including Rupert who sprang nimbly over onto the centreboard and broke it on the final lap. In the end none of the Minisails finished, but with one discard to play with, the smaller fleet in the final race meant that Steve Whitby took the lead back in the final tally, breaking Rupert's long run of National Championship success.
Bowmoor proved to be an excellent venue for the Minisail Nationals as well as the larger CVRDA event; great facilities and support from Tom the race officer and his team of helpers, safety crew and galley staff who made us all very welcome.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Helm | Sail No | Club |
|---|
| 1 | Steve Whitby | 2756 | Rollesby Broad SC |
| 2 | Rupert Whelan | 3131 | Whitefriars S.C. |
| 3 | Tom Moore | 5848 | Calshot Castle S.C. |
| 4 | David Argles/Dean Martin | 6874 | |
| 5 | Paul Rogers | 308 | Sandwell Valley S.C. |
| 6 | Frans Stoop | 5048 | |
| 7 | Ronny De Gruyter | 9000 | |
| 8 | Rob Baker | 4230 | Sandwell Valley S.C. |