Hornet National Championship 2023 at Mumbles Yacht Club - Day 2

Day 2 of the Hornet National Championship at Mumbles © Sam Woolner

The sunshine dwindling and the breeze building, the fleet assembled in the dinghy park. A 2 mile run to the start line in a 20 knot south westerly gave Skudder & Hills the best opportunity, having seen the forecast, to demonstrate capsize drills to the fleet, something that a lot of the class found most useful later in the day.

With no messing around, our honourable and most efficient race officer Richard set a generous beat (later to be shortened) and again "All Clear" were off.

A split off the start saw boats go left and right. On this occasion (and indeed for the rest of the day) right was right, a port lift turned into a starboard lift and McNamara & Chatterton capitalised on this to take a commanding lead around the first mark. The Flying Scotsmen Storky & Mark Taylor followed a little later, chased by Garry & Woolner then Curtis & Poulloin trying to continue their streak of bullets.

Fortunately for the multiple class champions, they had practised their gybing skills well and (by gybing more times than in the average Oppy downwind training day) mastered the reaches and runs to beat the competition to the line taking the win. McNamara & Chatterton followed closely and Garry & Woolner took third place from Skudder & Hills rounding out the same top 4 as the day before.

Race 2

A little keen after 3 clear starts, approximately 95% of the fleet were over the line caused by Floozie hammering down the start line at a rate of knots to match the wind speed and a strict black flag followed. This forced the fleet into limp mode and the second start was all clear by a line sag comparable to an equilateral triangle. Curtis & Poulloin with 3 bullets under their belt knew best, but they weren't right as they pushed out to the left hand side of the course.

McNamara again rounded the mark comfortably in the lead, followed again by the Scotsmen, the youngsters in the borrowed 2190 to the frustration of its owners behind them. Skudder & Hills followed on their way to the magic roundabout after a minor Port/Starboard issue and Curtis & Poulloin followed in a humble sixth.

Sadly their generosity didn't last and they punched their way through the lead boats over the next 3 laps into the lead.

A close run on the final lap saw them take the lead by the leeward mark and a battle was on behind. Coombe & Beer had niggled through with McNamara & Garry chasing them down. By the rounding, McNamara pushed in front and Garry caught a lucky wave and gained mark room over Coombe taking his second third of the day.

Race 3

A clear black flag start and McNamara gave his usual masterclass in Hornet sailing (or indeed sailing full stop!); this was maintained for 3 laps until the final tight (tight tight) reach to the leeward mark caused spinnaker related complications and Coombe & Beer crept though to take the lead, sadly fishing wasn't on the schedule for the day and Curtis & Poulloin popped into second, with McNamara giving chase once the catch was hauled in.

A tussle between Dave Edge and Garry, the former giving his best performance so far in the borrowed battleship and it looked like a clear win for Coombe. Sadly it wasn't to be and the afterburner had been lit. Curtis showing nobody else deserves to be the bride, took the line from Coombe with a photo finish. The rest followed in suit with a short but incredibly fickle beat to the slipway.

The racing was overshadowed by the fantastic talent show demonstrated throughout the day and special mentions are as follows:

• Jo Powell gave a masterclass in bikini removal while in full control of a reaching Hornet in 20+knots of steady breeze.
• Trapeze swimming (a up and coming sport) was expertly demonstrated by Alex Rogers after a minor helm malfunction.
• Hornet Stalwart Dave Wood showed off his amateur magician skills by turning a Hornet into a Turtle.

On the return to the shore, the Kestrels gave the Hornets a lesson on how landing on a lee shore should be done and how closely boats can work together when sharing a championship.

Sadly the forecast tomorrow looks a little grim, but the fleet are most excited about the upcoming AGM and watching England play Wales in the rugby. The class dinner will follow and the usual antics will surely come out of the hat!

Day 2 of the Hornet National Championship at Mumbles - photo © Sam Woolner

Results after day 2: