TCL Scorpion National Championship 2024 at Castle Cove Sailing Club - Overall

Hello from 1052, amazingly, not the oldest boat in the fleet at this Nationals at 54 years old! We think its great that old boats can still be competitive which helps to create closeness of racing all the way through the fleet.

Anyway, onto the business of our Day 5 report. So here's a vintage boat's perspective from deep in the melée of mid fleet racing...

The prelude

A serious physical test. A tough mental battle. And only one winner. We are of course talking about the epic games night, kindly organised by Sam Pascoe which we are all recovering from today! Another scorcher with flat calm greeting the early risers. We've not been blessed with big breeze this week but the first sunlight has been welcome for a vitamin D deficient Northerner! So as well as being a cracking champs, it has also been a holiday with beaches either side of the club. Castle Cove; you are blessed!

TCL Scorpion Nationals 2024 at Castle Cove Day 5 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

As we waited for the rumoured South Westerly breeze to arrive (we're never sure where these rumours start!) the usual build up ensued. We were blessed again with some incredible coaching from Adam Bowers. This has been an absolute godsend and really has offered food for thought to most of the fleet. Today's focus was rules - the result being a newfound revival of the word "protested" heard across the bay!

The racing

Going into the day, it was all to play for across the fleet, with 1 point seperating the leaders and several boats very much in the running. The 6 races held previously meant this would be the deciding day and the final opportunity. In summary, there were some big shifts, the left side of the course paid and it was going to be a sweaty one!

Race 7

We got underway with a light South Westerly and after 1 general recall due to a huge shift as the gate boat set off.

TCL Scorpion Nationals 2024 at Castle Cove Day 5 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

Those who went early did well but those who kept all the way left and ended up overstood had to deal with some serious mayhem at the first mark. What seemed like the first strong tide of the week caught everyone off guard with most of the fleet sat pinching and rafting with a chorus of shouting ringing out across the harbour. Port layers like us had a torrid time trying to get round and it's fair to say that spending time getting to know the marks up close and personal does you no favours...

Despite all the chaos, it was Gilly and Rach who rounded first and went on to extend and take the win. This ultimately put the pressure on the rest of the fleet and things were starting to look ominous! 2nd and 3rd went to Matt Burge/Rob Gardner and Angus/Fraser Hemmings respectively.

TCL Scorpion Nationals 2024 at Castle Cove Day 5 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

Race 8

This race got away cleanly with light breeze at times. It was Joe Warwicker and Andy Service in 1929 who managed to sneak ahead by the windward mark and extended their lead quite impressively. This result has landed them third overall so a great sign that wooden boats are fast.

2nd was Gilly and Rach who at this time had won the event with a race to spare. And coming in 3rd were Matt Burge and Rob Gardner.

TCL Scorpion Nationals 2024 at Castle Cove Day 5 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

Race 9

After another abandoned start, the fleet eventually got away cleanly. And finally, we had some champagne conditions. The last reaches finally saw scorpions in their natural environment (3 sails, bows up and flying along).

It was Matt Burge and Rob Gardner who got an absolute flyer off the line going early and were seen reaching into the windward mark on port. They simply extended from here for a well deserved first win of the event. 2nd were Joe Warwicker and Andy Service, wrapping up a great event and 3rd Pete and Rich.

All the hard graft was worth it for the post sail cold beer and pasty/samosa/snack - it shouldn't be a key reason we love the Scorpion Nationals but it's always a great touch.

The big one: the final night festivities and the Scorpions legendary fancy dress (Olympic themed).

The amazing social programme put together for this event has been building nicely towards a big finale. Rumour has it, our fleet's reputation for drinking clubs dry had the bar team making last minute additions to their usual order. Did the fleet see this as a challenge? Absolutely! And if fancy dress, drinking or Dad dancing were Olympic events, the Scorpion fleet would have some serious medal contenders.

If Team GB are looking for inspiration, then look no further than the effort put into our Olympic themed fancy dress party which is well underway at the time of writing. The outfits, clearly inspired by a lot of Olympics being broadcast on the big screen during our delays throughout the week. Who will win the coveted Peaches of Pennine costume trophy, we are yet to see...

We've already had the appearance of the Jamaican Bobsleigh Team, a candlelit dinner of Olympic torches and representation from every sport under the sun (though we've not seen any slightly smelly sailing fancy dress funnily enough...)

This will hopefully be an epic party and is always the most fantastic way to have a huge send off for what has been an amazing event. So a huge thank you to the organisers and Castle Cove for an excellent programme of racing and socials alike.

TCL Scorpion Nationals 2024 at Castle Cove Day 5 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

Overall Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the Scorpion nationals then enter your Gear Guide information here