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.
Day 1
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.
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.
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…
Day 2
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.
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.
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.
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…
Day 3
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.
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…
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.
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.
Last Day
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.
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.
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.
Results
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 | |