SKUD 18 UK Championship 2024 at Rutland Sailing Club
by Richard Johnson 7 Aug 06:42 BST
3-4 August 2024
SKUD 18 UK Championship 2024 at Rutland © David Hodson
Designed by Hansa's Chris Mitchell, working with Julian Bethwaite and using lessons learned from 18ft Skiffs and the 49er, the SKUD18 was probably the most exciting boat to participate in the Paralympics until sailing was dropped in 2016.
With a powerful rig and a lead-bulb keel allowing centre seating for the crew it was demanding but safe for sailors with disabilities, plus - post-Paralympics - anyone else with skill but less agility. Rutland SKUDs have gathered seven of the 80-plus boats made and the Group is flourishing within the Club racing fleet, so they decided to run a SKUD "World Championships-Northern-Hemisphere-Version" for anyone capable of flying a big Asymmetric Spinnaker.
On the first weekend of August, Six crews prepared to race. Their previous mounts included; Foiling Moth, 49er, Round-the-World Racer, SB3 and a variety of dinghies... Oh yes, and a variety of wheelchairs, crutches and buggies!
Day one was raced in the beautiful South Arm of Rutland Water on a one-mile windward-leeward course. First away was 84 year old John Vickers, followed by Paul Pearson, crewed by SKUD Maintenance Guru Nev Rose, who regularly works miracles to keep the veteran boats performing. Spinnakers blossomed and it was Paul & Nev who sailed fast and deep to take the lead and the race. Meanwhile Nick and Pete, guest sailors from the cruiser-racer fleet, had to retire with a broken tiller, as did Richard Sant, designer of a revolutionary new canting SKUD seat, who was stopped dead by a large bunch of weed.
Vickers again led Race 2 but Stuart and Lynne Swan from Weymouth showed their potential with improving boat speed and immaculate Asymmetric handling by the ex-49er sailor, closely followed by top keelboat Racers Nick and Pete. Finally, fast starters Vickers and Johnson made no mistakes to take Race 3 from a recovering Richard Sant and Evan who had beed de-weeded by a safety RIB. meanwhile the Swans scored third leaving the overnight score as Vickers-Johnson 1st, the Swans 2nd Paul-Nev 3rd. It could have been a different story but the very close racing was distorted by weed affecting most of the others.
The wind was lighter and from the South on Sunday so racing started near Normanton church, with the fleet tightly bunched. Local Yachties Verdino and Pollard showed their expertise by leading but the Swans were airborne and outpacing the rest. Second were last year's Champion Christine Spray crewed by ex-circumnavigator Kirsten Pollock, having a good regatta despite the weed!
Race 5 was a disaster for Vickers, as the Spinnaker tore the bag and jammed during a drop while leading, demoting them to 5th in another race dominated by the Swans, closely followed by Paul-Nev and Christine-Kirsten.
The final race had variable winds, lots of place changing and highly tactical runs with lots of gybes. Vickers and Johnson made the best calls to win by a whisker from the Swans, closely followed by the girls. A great end to some very close racing!
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 11 | Lynn Swan | Stuart Swan | ‑4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 2nd | 42 | John Vickers | Richard Johnson | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | ‑5 | 1 | 10 |
| 3rd | 57 | Christine Spray | Kirsten Pollock | 3 | 5 | ‑6 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 16 |
| 4th | 77 | Paul Pearson | Neville Rose | 1 | 4 | ‑5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 17 |
| 5th | 10 | Nick Verdino | Peter Pollard | ‑6 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 20 |
| 6th | 34 | Richard Sant | Evan Williams | ‑6 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 24 |