Musto Lark National Championships 2024 at Weymouth Sailing Club - Day 1
by Jonny Coate 26 May 22:38 UTC
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.
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.
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 |