Graduate Open at Chipstead Sailing Club

Chipstead Graduate Open © Keith Turtle

The Chipstead Sailing Club Graduate Open 2022 took place in ideal conditions on Sunday 8 May 2022. Blue skies and a consistent warm breeze greeted the sailors, with fourteen Grads participating in a memorable day of sailing organised by Class Captain Gareth Colesmith, and OOD Mick Kostiw.

The first race saw eleven boats compete in the highest winds of the day. These were ideal conditions for Andrew Hubble who got off to a fine start, keeping his lead to reach the windward mark in first place. The race remained close for the first three laps with John Clementson, Alan Warren, and Roger Cherrill eventually pulling away from Hubble on the beat.

Chipstead Graduate Open - photo © Keith Turtle

John Clementson clinched his first (and not his last) first place finish of the day, with Warren taking second place. Hubble squeaked into third place, managing to pip Cherrill rounding the final mark. Ric Lewis finished fifth, Ed Poet and son Max in sixth, followed by Gareth Colesmith in seventh, Simon Dorricott in eighth. It was excellent to see two of Chipstead's promising younger talents, Isabelle Cobb and Eleanor Colesmith, both usually single handed sailors, helming Grads with experienced hands Angela Flory and Meg Warren respectively crewing. Cobb took an impressive ninth place in front of Nicola Marsh and Eleanor Colesmith (retired).

Chipstead Graduate Open - photo © Keith Turtle

After a lunch break basking in warm sunshine, three additional sailors joined for the second race of the day, including former Class Captain James Webber, and new club member Niall Martin. John Clementson showed his heels to take first place, with Ric Lewis second and Andrew Hubble again taking third place.

Special mention must go to newcomer Niall Martin, sailing with his son, James, in their distinctive purple-hulled Grad not only in their first race at Chipstead, but sailing their boat together for the first time. They managed an impressive tenth place, ahead of Eleanor Colesmith (eleventh), Isabelle Cobb (who managed to hang onto her twelfth place despite capsizing), Sebastian Naughton, and Nicola Marsh.

Chipstead Graduate Open - photo © Keith Turtle

Nerves were clearly jangling among the eleven sailors participating in the final race of the day, with OOD Mick Kostiw directing a general recall after some eight or nine boats were judged to be over the line at the start of the race. The race saw some of the closest racing of the day, particularly between Andrew Hubble and James Webber on the final lap. John Clementson achieved another first place finish of the day, with Alan Warren finishing in second. Only 10 seconds separated the following three boats, with James Webber clinching third place a hair's breadth ahead of Andrew Hubble (fourth), who was closely followed by Roger Cherrill (fifth).

Meanwhile, on the shore, a fantastic spread was being prepared by Cally Lewis, Jan Warren, Meg Crawley, Freddie Naughton and Jilly Batchelor to greet the sailors after they had packed up their boats, and the class were honoured by social visits from Howard Batchelor (not competing this year) and former Graduate sailor Douglas Horner.

The final position saw top-three finishers (1) John Clementson, (2) Alan Warren, (3) Andrew Hubble, while Isabelle Cobb was the Top Junior Helm.

Particular thanks goes to OOD Mick Kostiw, AODs Peter Gillow and Tony Dicker, and to the patrol boat crews Dave Rudman, Keith Turtle, Rob Trend and Mick Healy.

Overall Results: