Musto Lark National Championships 2024 at Weymouth Sailing Club

Musto Lark National Championships 2024 at Weymouth Sailing Club - Day 1

by Jonny Coate 26 May 23:38 BST 26-29 May 2024

Musto Lark National Championships at Weymouth day 1 © Simon Cox

The Musto Lark National Championships kicked off today at Weymouth Sailing Club with two races held in a solid south-westerly breeze that built throughout the day. Crews were warmly welcomed by the club on Saturday with a competitors briefing followed by a superb reception with great food.

A great team of Weymouth SC's own juniors have also entered the event in the club's newly acquired Lark fleet, which is really great to see and comes with the added bonus of lowering the average age in the fleet a bit!

Race one utilised the gate start option with class stalwart Nigel Hufton sailing with Matt Wood doing the honours as gate boat. The fleet got away in around 16 knots of breeze on a triangle-sausage course, with a very long beat. With the wind strengthening, the fleet had two lively reaches on the first lap which also claimed the first capsize victims of the day.

The race leaders had a good battle at the front; I'm told there is little to separate the top teams of Tom Gillard & James Hobson, Chris & Nic White, and Ed Bradburn & Holly Evans.

Tim Fells & Frances Gifford also showed great speed to take third place in race 1 but unfortunately had to retire from race 2 when their spreader bracket separated from the mast.

Musto Lark National Championships at Weymouth day 1 - photo © Simon Cox

By the start of race two the wind speed had built to over 20 knots. The race committee opted for a line start this time which kept things interesting. After one general recall the race was successfully started on the second attempt, with a lot of the fleet bunched up at the slightly favoured committee boat end.

Team White & White lead at the first mark after a (thankfully) shorter beat, closely followed by Gillard & Hobson and Bradburn & Evans. The breeze continued to crank up throughout the race, testing the crews to, and beyond, their limits.

At the sharp end Gillard & Hobson managed to get the better of White & White on the last beat and secure a second race win to finish the day with a perfect scoreline.

Racing continues tomorrow with three races planned, and similar conditions forecast.

Musto Lark National Championships at Weymouth day 1 - photo © John Brickwood

Results after day 1:

Pos	Boat Name	Sail no	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	Pts
1	Wind Chaser	2530	Tom Gillard	James Hobson	Sheffield Viking SC	1	1	2
2	Smarty Pants	2533	Chris White	Nicola White	South Staffs SC	2	2	4
3		2526	Ed Bradburn	Holly Evans	South Staffs SC	4	3	7
4	Well Dodgy	2495	Stuart Hydon	Nick Hydon	Dittisham	5	4	9
5	Tiger Too	2538	Nigel Hufton	Matt Wood	Frensham Pond SC	7	5	12
6	Rocket Ronnie	2464	Jonny Coate	Kate Phillips	South Staffs SC	10	7	17
7	Dylan	2539	Nigel Scott	Tegwyn Tricker	RYA	12	10	22
8	Reasons to be Cheerful	1948	Chris Tillbrook	Stephen Scriven	Roadford SC	14	9	23
9	Rollergirl	2520	Harry Pynn	Gemma Cook	Waldringfield SC	9	15	24
10	Mowgli	2528	Andy Hicks	Vicky Brickwood	Frensham Pond SC	11	13	24
11	Camembert	2264	Jeremy Stephens	Becca Stephens	Penzance SC	17	12	29
12	TBC	2491	Emma Harris	Rachael Jenkins	Waldringfield SC	6	24	30
13	Polar Bear	2531	Daniel Watson	Isobel Stewart	Waldringfield SC	13	17	30
14	Universally Challenged	2521	Maryn Wilkes	Alex Orr Prosper	UCL Sailing Club	20	14	34
15	Simply Red	2508	Jonathan Woodward	Olly Hateley	South Staffs SC	15	19	34
16	Floozie	2527	Tim Fells	Frances Gifford	Salcombe YC	3	RET	35
17	Allergic to Water	2536	Samuel Bailey	Kamila Czartolomna	South Staffs SC	24	11	35
18	Weeble	2502	Steve Chatten	George Graham	Netley SC	19	16	35
19	Cleopatra	2541	Simon Cox	George Cox‑Olliff	Brightlingsea SC	RET	6	38
20	Mlevi	2504	John Crooks	Eluned Stewart	Waldringfield SC	16	22	38
21	Synergy Marine Demo Lark	2540	Ethan Davey	Madeline Bilbrough	University of Plymouth SC	21	18	39
22	Musto	2475	Chris Holliman	Kate Holliman	Lymington SC	8	RET	40
23	Free Willy	2501	Megan Brickwood	Connor Dickson	Netley SC	DNC	8	41
24		2529	Paul Bottomley	Katie Keith	South Staffs SC	23	20	43
25	This One	2226	Oliver Loadsby	Leo Shuttleworth	Weymouth SC	18	27	45
26	Buffy	2459	Nigel Denchfield	Fiona Denchfield	Grafham Water	25	21	46
27	The Other One	2376	Ned Winter	Becky Ewart	Weymouth SC	26	23	49
28	That One	2272	Dee Wolff	Edie Stow	Weymouth SC	28	25	53
29	Vertigo	2324	Elise Lloyd	Serenna Brodrick	Weymouth SC	27	26	53
30	The Hoff	2443	Kate Merritt	Vickie Burgess	RYA	22	DNC	55
31	Spare	2275	Jack Keedy	Arthur Howarth	Weymouth SC	29	RET	61
32	Jumpers, Kittens and Cake	2349	Lew Harris‑Cormack	Ben Hurrell	Weymouth SC	RET	RET	64
33=		2265	Graeme Burton	Celia Rushton	Herne Bay SC	DNC	DNC	66
33=	Frensham Pond Lark	2472	Haydn Sewell	Hannah Carruthers	Frensham Pond SC	DNC	DNC	66