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Club News

Wanderer Nationals 2016 at Whitstable Yacht Club

Posted: Tuesday, 07 June, 2016

Whitstable Yacht Club hosted the Wanderer Nationals on the weekend of the 4th and 5th of June. 3 of 4 races were sailed, and 2 visiting boats competed with 9 club boats. The event was won by Philip Meadowcroft and Adam Wickenden from Salcombe Sailing Club, with Ian Simpson and Dave Bardwell from Tudor Sailing Club in second, and our very own Gavin Barr and Mark Skipper in third. Click more for a full write up of the event by Shelagh O'Riordan, and check out the photos by Laura Jean Carney on the Facebook page.

The weather in the previous week had been so horrible it was with relief for those of us obsessing with online weather predictions that the freezing windy weather was leaving us and there even seemed some chance of sunshine!

Saturday dawned cloudy with a cool northerly so it didn’t look too good but 2 visiting boats (Tudor SC and Salcombe SC) arrived and the 9 WYC boats all rigged (Gavin had been very insistent) and there was a degree of excitement. Race 1 started and it was really rather clear after the first upwind leg who were the best sailors as the boats who shared the top 3 final places went round first and were rarely glimpsed by the rest of us for the rest of the race. As the race continued, the wind dropped and finally the tide turned. Ed and I were definitely having a lucky day as we managed to keep a fourth place all the way round, even when all the boats behind raised their spinnakers. In the end, only 5 boats finished as the combined flat calm with a strong tide made it impossible. Philip Meadowcroft and Adam Wickenden were first over the line, followed by Ian Simpson and Dave Bardwell and then our very own Gavin and Mark. Luckily it was decided that places could be awarded and the rescue boat went round the course counting us all in order. There was huge sigh of relief when race 2 was cancelled and we headed ashore under paddle steam rather than sail!

The evening was lovely as the weather warmed up and due to a wedding at the club, the team de-camped to the pub over the road and Wiz cooked an excellent meal. As tradition has it, Gavin got his guitar out and there was even singing!

Day 2 dawned grey but with a much better wind and racing commenced. Two boats thought they would try a port flier for the start of race 3 (note to self- don’t try it again!) but all other sensible boats took the usual course. The usual 3 headed off but this time accompanied by Peter Hayes and Jo Philips who had left their Laser 3000 ashore for the weekend. The battle for the next 3 places were very tightly contested with Jonathan Musgrove and Nia Crockford pipping Richard Maltby and John Hope who pipped Ed and I (very annoying). John Boorman and Paul Fincham were sailing really well with their spinnaker when they took a death roll followed by a swim and a tow in!

Race 3 was started quickly and the wind really had got up by then so the boats flew round the course. In higher winds, a well filled spinnaker really does help (I’m not convinced in lighter winds) so Jonathan and Nia did really well (they had ripped theirs in the previous race) to get a 4th and those of us who had declared “no spinnaker” crossed the line in the last 4 places. The first place was taken by Ian and Dave but Philip and Adam got a second.
Prizes for the most consistent sailors went to Gavin and Mark who got 3 3rds, Paul and Amanda who got 3 9ths and Ian and Kate who got 3 10ths! When prize giving came, Ian and Kate also got 2 bottles of wine for perseverance and endeavour! Thanks also to Hartley Boats for sponsoring the event.

The full results are on the website, but I would like to make some observations.
1. Richard Maltby should stop teaching Jonny and Nia all he knows- they already know too much!
2. Gavin clearly has good powers of recovery as at the end of last year he broke his leg, but still managed to thrash all the Whitstable boats (as usual).
3. Sailing a wanderer is great fun and we should all do it more often!
Shelagh O’Riordan