UK Cherub Nationals 2002

There was a total entry of 19 boats for the Nationals, although Neil and Ken didn't make it due to family illness. There was a good variety of boats from an asymmetric converted Forman 8 right up to just about every post 97 rules boat! The majority were sporting some kind of partial or full 97 rules conversion. Old faces, new faces, familiar boats and ones that hadn't been seen for a while were all there. Top marks for travel went to the two Scottish boats.

Sunshine, 15 to 20 knots of breeze, what more could one want? Well, in the case of your editor, a dagger board that doesn't break off on the downhill leg… Crack, f***, what's that, crack, boat goes out of control, white thing floats up behind boat.

On a more positive note we had two races in an exceedingly decent breeze.

2617 Eat My Wake

Both races were P courses. Race 1 saw Davro take the lead on a tight first beat, followed round mark1 by inter alia Robin, Gavin Sims, Tim & Una, Andy Paterson and to his surprise your editor, not necessarily in that order. A tight first leg of the P saw some delayed hoists, and then the pedal went to the metal as we bounced downhill. My race ended close to the leeward mark, but I understand Davro and Clare won, Robin was second and Gavin third.

2641 Halo Jones

Race 2 was equally entertaining. Robin and Will took an early lead and proceeded to do a horizon job on the fleet, while Dave dropped back with a swim after Clare missed the hook going out on the wire. Phil Alderson in his flareless Pat 7 was going great guns for much of the race, only relinquishing 2nd to Gavin Sims after a ferocious battle on the last lap…

Sunshine and 15knots for the first race, although it dropped continuously to around 5 to 8 knots for the last race.

Race 3. Dave and Clare found the right way up the first beat, and led round the mark, but they couldn't hold off Robin, who went off for another wind. Behind Gavin and Davro were regularly swapping places, but in the end Gavin took second, with Dave 3rd and Andy Paterson coming through for 4th.

2642 Little Fluffy Clouds

Race 4. Gavin Sims pulled off another of the hot starts that he always seemed to manage in his old boat, Strawberry, then picked the first beat right, then sailed round and won… The tide had turned and was quite significant in this race. At the windward mark Dave and Claire were off the opinion that they were clear ahead of a starboard Phil Alderson - but were wrong, and circles ensued! However they got through to second in the end, ahead of Robin and then Andy P again.

2645 Cheese Before Bedtime

Race 5. The wind had dropped again, and the tide was so strong that the line was just about un-crossable on starboard - so much shouting at the port end! Still a pretty fair breeze, and another P course. By the second lap Gavin was just ahead of Patrick and Andy P at the windward mark, but found better speed downwind and went on to win. The next few fought a close battle, with Robin eventually taking third from Phil Alderson, with Patrick dropping back to 5th.

2649 Dangerous Strawberry

Race 6. The wind now was dying appreciably, and holes were beginning to appear, especially with the strong tidal stream going with the wind. The start was delayed in order to let a block of flats labelled 'Irish Ferries' pass. The start was closely contested, with one boat over, and some accusations of barging, resulting in the first Cherub on Cherub protest at a UK Championship since the 1980 Worlds. Gavin went well left on the first leg, but it didn't seem to pay, and Patrick led narrowly from Andy and Robin at the first mark, followed by a very tight bunch. By the gate Phil Alderson had emerged from the bunch into 4th, which saw the # Paterson 7s in the top 4 in their preferred conditions. Following this there was a quite inspirable bunch of about 9 boats, ferociously place changing all the time. On the next beat Andy found a huge hole, and Patrick went away to win. Gavin caught Andy after avoiding the hole, and finished second, with Andy third and Dangerous Strawberry emerging 4th out of the ruckus behind. The protest then ensued, which was Robin against Patrick for barging in at the committee boat, and Patrick copped a DSQ…

2650 King Tubby

Sunshine and… not much wind. Actually it looked OK going out to the start, but it pretty much went down from there.

Race 7. Andy Paterson liked the conditions better! He was able to get an early lead, which he kept to the end. Gavin was always chasing, but never quite catching. The big surprise was Graham and Sarah in the Squid. They really got it in the groove on the run, sailing at much the same speed as the pack, but far deeper, and went right through to third place.

2651 Strangely Brown

Race 8. The wind had dropped some more, and a good few decided that enough was enough and headed for the beach. Andy again led, harried by Gavin and Patrick, but they never actually managed to catch him. It was one of those races where not hoisting the spinnaker was definitely the fast choice at times! Further back there was some very tight and vocal mark roundings, with at least two boats doing their turns…

2660 The Pasta Frensy

Race 9. The first attempt at this was abandoned as the Cherubs struggled to the windward mark with the Moths becalmed on the run. Cheers ensued! Shortly after this a rather lacklustre sea breeze came in, but there was at least enough breeze to keep kites filled all the way round. Andy again won, with Gavin second, and Patrick third.

2662 Fizzy Shark

This left Gavin firmly in the top slot, with Andy just capable of catching him if he won both races. Robin's challenge faded with the wind, as was perhaps predictable.

2666 Pisstrix

Cloudy and mist and next to no wind. A long postponement - we finally launched at 11 when they finally saw 5-6 knots out in the race area, and started at 12.

2673 The Green Slug

Race 11. The Moths got away fine on a bit of breeze, but the wind dropped just before the Cherub start, leaving two boats somehow becalmed on port on the line at the port end. They may have had no rights, but they couldn't move either. The resultant chaos saw several boats, including Gavin, get absolutely and completely stuffed at what had looked like the favoured end with the tide situation, while 02 themselves out. Strawberry picked up a second, and Patrick third.

2675 Fuzzy Logic

Race 12 Gavin attempted an Ainslie style covering match on Andy, but the wily Paterson was having none of it! In another horribly chaotic start - you just can't do that sort of thing, Strawberry - experience paid and Andy wriggled his way out to the front. Patrick overtook on the second beat, and Gavin was back in the frame, then Andy got back in front, but then snagged a lobster pot and went swimming, so Patrick nipped just ahead again. They were overlapped to the line but Patrick crossed the line first - to silence - OCS! Andy took the series after all on most first places, with Gavin second. Either of Patrick's lost race wins could have given him third overall, but instead Mark and Scott, who'd been improving steadily right through the series, took third place as well as the handicap prize.

2677 Squid Pro Quo 2678 Little Red Number 2678 Little Red Number 2681 Aqua Marina 2682 Mango Jam

Pos Boat Name Sail No Helm Crew R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 Pts Notes
1st Shiny Beast 2676 Andy Paterson Ross Clark 4 5 4 4 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 13.0  
2nd Mango Jam 2682 Gavin Sims Simon Goodwin 3 2 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 7 5 13.0  
3rd Dangerous Strawberry 2649 Mark Chamberlain Scott Willey 6 6 8 10 7 3 5 5 4 2 4 35.0  
4th Aqua Marina 2681 Phil Alderson Michael Garrington 7 3 5 5 4 11 DNC DNC DNC 4 2 41.0  
5th Green Slug 2673 Robin Russell Will Lee 2 1 1 3 3 4 11 DNC DNC DNC DNC 45.0  
6th Fizzy Shark 2662 Tim Dean Una-Mary Colclough 5 7 9 6 8 6 6 DNC DNC 5 6 49.0  
7th The Pasta Frenzy 2660 Dave Roe Clare Warren 1 4 3 2 6 7 7 DNC DNC DNC DNC 50.0  
8th Little Red Number 2678 Patrick Cunningham David Hannaford DNF DNC 6 7 5 DSQ 4 3 3 3 OCS 51.0 DSQ Race 6 after protest.
9th Fuzzy Logic 2675 Martin Hurst Jon Garfitt DNF DNC 10 8 10 5 10 7 5 6 3 54.0  
10th Pistrix 2666 Joe Snawdon Natalie Butcher 8 8 12 DNC 11 9 9 8 8 8 7 65.0  
11th Geriatric Gigolo 2650 Murray Tosh Bruce Lenton 10 12 14 12 9 12 8 4 6 9 8 66.0  
12th Cheese before Bedtime 2645 Nick Hankins Nigel Sims 9 10 7 9 13 10 12 10 DNC 10 11 76.0  
13th Squid 2677 Graham Dickenson Sarah Tindall DNF 11 15 14 DSQ 8 3 9 9 dnf DNC 89.0 DSQ R5 for missing a mark.
14th Eat My Wake 2617 Christopher Holman Thomas Hamilton 11 13 16 15 15 14 16 11 10 12 12 98.0  
15th Little Fluffy Clouds 2643(sic) Ben Brown Daryl Wilkinson DNF 9 11 13 12 13 DNC DNC DNC 14 10 102.0  
16th Halo Jones 2641 Alex Adams Jim Champ DNF DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 13 6 7 13 9 108.0  
17th Strangely Brown 2651 Gary Butland Simon Turnbull DNF DNC 13 11 14 DNC 14 DNC DNC 11 dnf 123.0  
18th   247 Simon Roberts Lucy Lee DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 15 DNC DNC DNC DNC 155.0  
19th Team Scotland 2674 Neil Cardno Ken Scott-Brown DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 160.0  
  • history/2002-nats.txt
  • Last modified: 2023/10/04 10:58
  • by phil_alderson