Hurricane 5.9 SX TT open meeting at Thorpe Bay Yacht Club
by Howard Warrington 4 Sep 07:49 UTC
23-24 August 2025
Hurricane 5.9 SX TT at Thorpe Bay © David Maynard /
www.alleycatphotographer.com
The last event of the Hurricane Travellers Trophy series was held at Thorpe Bay Yacht Club. Visitors arrived from Datchet SC, Starcross SC, Stone SC, Weston SC and a strong entry from the locals at TBYC.
We doubled up the event with our friends from the Nacra 20 Carbon fleet who were sailing their National Championships. All of them in C-board set up (no foilers) had a great event.
Most boats had arrived and set up on the Friday afternoon ready for the off on Saturday morning which arrived with some lovely weather but not a lot of wind. However, with an Easterly breeze forecast, Race Officer Richard Hamblin, assisted by Chris Boshier and Commodore Martin Swindon, were all happy that the breeze would build which it did nicely.
It was decided that we might try for four races as Sunday's wind was not looking great. Ben Harris from Weston SC and his first time Hurricane crew Marcus King- swiftly drafted in from the Nacra 15 circuit, did a great job in race one. The pairing; slim, fit, underweight - all the things us older beer bellied chaps are not, just took off in the earlier lighter breeze.
Our current National Champions; Jack Tindale and Hugo Bull from Stone SC were leading until flag confusion and mental arithmetic got the better of them and tried to finish a lap earlier - it happens to us all boys! They came home in second with Ben & Marcus taking the first (proper) line honours. The double "Alex" boat (Farrall and Warrington) in third.
Race 2 and this time Alex & Alex found the groove and had to work hard to hold off Ben & Marcus which they managed to do. With Richie Hanmore and Matt Kimber from Stone in 3rd and Trevor Bawden and Tom Wass, also from Stone, scoring their second fourth of the day.
Race 3 and now the wind was building quite nicely. With the breeze strengthening so does TBYC due of Julian Reichert and Jeremy Sandford. They sailed a blinder. They hard to work very hard to keep this exceptionally talented fleet behind them. They took the win with Trevor & Tom in second, Alex & Alex in third and Ben & Marcus in fourth.
Our National Champs retired with boat damage and done for the day which was a shame. Crew Hugo beat a hasty retreat to the airport to fly home to the Middle East. Jack managed to draft/cajole his wife Kelly into sailing with him on Sunday. What could possibly go wrong!
Race 4 followed on as expected. The breeze still good and steady making life a bit easier on the committee boat. Alex & Alex, scrapping all the way with Ben & Marcus were the top two again. Trevor & Tom 3rd and Richie & Matt in 4th.
As this point it's good to recognise some new crews and some returning crews. Best pals Rob Graves and Tom Hanman in their 2nd Hurricane this year (they loved it that much!) were competing in their first event. As were father and son team of Johnno and Jojo Gillies, both suffering from recent injuries but loving every moment. It was great to see David White back on the helm of Conrad Steveneson's recently "AW Sailboats" refurbished Orca (Black hulls, white below the water line) and Sam Osbourne returning to the fleet to crew with Greg Reed from Datchet SC.
Recent Tornado National Champ, Paul Palmer couldn't help himself and borrowed a boat to sail with Jenny Epps. Pippa Mintern also on her debut TT event crewing for Pete Broomfield and of course we can't forget Bruce Spratt, ex-Moth sailor among many others, squabbling with Mark Mawditt on who was the better helm of the day having switched positions each race!
Racing now done, it was back to the club for a sit down meal with the Nacra 20's who also had a great day's sailing. The beer flowed, the music turned up and what goes on tour, stays on tour!
Sunday arrived with a lovely Thorpe Bay day. Sun, sea and not a breath of wind... Oh well, it was what we expected. Race Officer Richard's decision to get 4 races in the day before was now looking like a top call. Us locals were confident that a sea breeze would appear, but not until a fair bit later.
AP over 1 hour was duly hoisted.
Another great call from the RO. At exactly the right time, the sea breeze started to creep in from the North Sea. Overnight it was Alex & Alex in 1st but equal points with Ben and Marcus and Trevor & Tom in third. All to play for and still others could steal it.
Jack & new crew Kelly went and smashed it! Leading from start to finish. Kelly was heard to remark "What's all the fuss about? This is quite easy!" Jack now beaming with his newly established brownie points! The shake up however was not over. Trevor & Tom found their form and were 2nd, Ben & Marcus 3rd, with the Alex's back in 5th having had a tough one.
Still all to play for in the final race. No more discards. It was off for the final race. The wind still very nice and steady had built into a nice sea breeze although not the same strength as the previous day.
Paul & Jenny sailed a great race. They led for most of it, but as I said earlier, one mistake and you're punished. They came home in 4th and very happy with that they were. 3rd and back up there again was Julian & Jeremy, 2nd again was Trevor & Tom sailing a very consistent regatta.
The winners of the last race and with that taking the overall win was Ben Harris and Marcus King from Weston SC. Great job lads, they sailed a superb series and thoroughly deserved the win.
Thank you to our Race Committee and our fabulous mark layers for putting on a terrific event at Thorpe Bay.
The winners of the Hurricane 5.9 SX Travellers Trophy for the second year running: Alex Farrall and Alex Warrington - Thorpe Bay Yacht Club.
Our next event will be the Grafham Cat Open in October for our Inland Championships.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 409 | Ben Harris | Marcus King | 1 | 2 | ‑4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | 420 | Alex Farrall | Alex Warrington | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | ‑6 | 13 |
| 3 | 481 | Trevor Bawden | Tom Wass | ‑4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 13 |
| 4 | 370 | Richie Hanmore | Matt Kimber | ‑7 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 21 |
| 5 | 455 | Julian Reichert | Jeremy Sandford | 9 | 5 | 1 | 7 | ‑11 | 3 | 25 |
| 6 | 487 | George Warrington | Howard Warrington | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | ‑9 | 9 | 35 |
| 7 | 229 | Jack Tindale | Kelly Tindale | 2 | 6 | (RET) | DNS | 1 | 7 | 36 |
| 8 | 483 | Paul Palmer | Jenny Epps | 10 | ‑11 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 38 |
| 9 | 102 | Adrian Bunting | Steph Bunting | 5 | ‑15 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 45 |
| 10 | 450 | David White | Conrad Stevenson | 13 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 7 | ‑16 | 46 |
| 11 | 333 | Greg Reed | Sam Osbourne | 6 | 8 | 12 | (OCS) | 12 | 8 | 46 |
| 12 | 456 | Geoff Tindale | Jess Bunting | 12 | 9 | ‑14 | 13 | 8 | 13 | 55 |
| 13 | 335 | Rob Graves | Tom Hanman | 11 | ‑14 | 9 | 8 | 14 | 14 | 56 |
| 14 | 372 | Simon Boygle | Sophie Boygle | 15 | 10 | 10 | 12 | ‑16 | 12 | 59 |
| 15 | 173 | Paul Raven | Vicky Raven | 14 | ‑19 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 68 |
| 16 | 436 | Mark Mawditt | Bruce Spratt | 16 | 12 | 13 | (OCS) | 15 | 15 | 71 |
| 17 | 453 | Jim Bowie | Darren Fitchew | ‑19 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 17 | 17 | 76 |
| 18 | 368 | Peter Broomfield | Pippa Mintern | 17 | ‑18 | 18 | 15 | 18 | 18 | 86 |
| 19 | 428 | Johnno Gilles | Jojo Gilles | 18 | 17 | 17 | (RET) | 19 | 19 | 90 |