Nationals 2007 Report

Contender Nationals - Looe SC - 26^th to 29^th May 2007

Once again the Contender fleet found themselves heading south west for the nationals, this year to the popular location of Looe in Cornwall. This was the forth time the Nationals have been hosted by Looe SC and all have been memorable for the racing organisation, friendly welcome and convenience for families. This year was no exception and with 54 entries the class showed it was happy to come back again to shove off the sandy beach.

Saturday brought a force 2 to 3 offshore, chilly northerly wind, which provided a shifty, thought provoking day. For the first race the left paid handsomely on the first beat causing the leading bunch to close reach to the first mark. A fine sight if you were out on the right. "Local" Graham Scott got it bang on to clearly lead down the reaches and looked comfortable from there. Stacey Bray showed fine offwind technique, while Ed Presley, resplendent in his new shiny blue boat, put in a bould appearance along with "surf star" Pete Dives. Stuart Jones, the defending Champion, eventually overhauled this trio on one of the shifty beats to finish second with Bray third. The second race of the day saw Tim Holden, Scott and Jones pull well clear of the chasing pack in the freshing breeze. All three had a go in the lead but when Jones poked his nose clear he deciding to rejoin the chasers by rolling the boat over to windward having let go of the mainsheet on the reach. Holden joyfully sailed past to win from Scott. Jones dripped in third with Neil Wilson, complete with balaclava in fourth.

Early Sunday morning was grim, as those camping will confirm, as a gale blew tents to destruction. The day had the same forcast but the wind swung round and never settled. Sometimes strong wind and thunderstorms and sometimes calm. The race officer, Rodger Hocking, knocked it on the head fairly early as it was impossible to set a course.

Monday dawned bright and breezy and after a short wait for the wind to calm down it was off for a battle in the force 6 to 7. Again the wind was off the land there were some mighty shifts and gusts causing not a few quivering lower lips.

In the first race heavy weather experts Wilson, Simon Mussell and Holden lead with a gap back to a gaggle of boats. Despite the conditions there was little capsizing in the first third of the fleet but Mussell laid it down briefly on a couple of tacks to let Scott catch up while Holden dragged the boom to trip up on a reach. It now looked to be Wilsons for the taking but he just failed to lay the finish line and the resulting tacks let in Holden, Mussell and Scott in that order.

The second race of the day saw a reduced fleet as the wind had piped up to full strength. To keep things basic the fleet in general went hard left on the first beat, hung on for the reaches and hard right thereafter. The gybes had to look after themselves or not. Scott stamped his mastery on the event by winning this sail ripper with Bray second, still nicely two footing the reaches. Mussell and Wilson were not far behind.

For the final race of the day the wind calmed down a bit, tempting a larger entry out for three recalls. Tactically there was a similar pattern with the leaders coming from the right on the first beat. A lot of the usual faces were up there but Wilson, this time, made no mistakes with the finish to take it. John Browett had a good one to cross in second with Holden and Mussell completing a good day for themselves. Scott had a relatively poor sixth but it put him nicely in poll position for the last days racing.

The racing looked in doubt for most of Tuesday, as the low causing all the fun had move off up the channel leaving a glassy sea. The race officer persevered and finally got the fleet away in what was obviously, by now, the last race of the series. With this scenario only Holden could overtake Scott on the leader board and the two were in close attendance on the start line. Although not a full blown chase it was perhaps just enough to put Holden off at the vital moment to see him sink to mid fleet at the first mark. Jeff Bettle lead, just about trapezing up the first beat with Wilson, Scott and Jones a little behind. Bettle held the lead for three quarters of the race but was overtaken when the reach tightened to a trapezable one. Wilson went on to win with Jones slipping through Scott to be close behind the race leader.

This was Graham Scotts umpteenth British championship win but not for a few years.

Thanks go to Looe SC which is a very friendly and helpful club to sail from. Rodger Hocking and team did a fine job on the water and the beach party are one of the finest. Then there's the bar and catering. Anyone for an all you can eat buffet and a few pints, does it for me everytime.

Pos	SailNo	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Total	Fleet
1	720	Graham Scott	RYA	1	2	3	1	6	3	10	Gold
2	685	Neil Wilson	Holy Loch	29	4	4	4	1	1	14	Gold
3	2318	Tim Holden	Halifax	8	1	1	5	3	19	18	Gold
4	701	Stuart Jones	Datchet	2	3	6	9	9	2	22	Gold
5	2405	Stacy Bray	Porthpearn	3	9	13	2	8	11	33	Gold
6	2315	Ben Holden	Halifax	10	8	5	7	16	4	34	Gold
7	702	Matt Aston	Datchet	7	6	7	10	5	9	34	Gold
8	2372	Simon Mussell	Highcliffe	36	22	2	3	4	6	37	Gold
9	713	John Browett	Datchet	20	12	8	8	2	8	38	Gold
10	2373	Gary Langdown	Highcliffe	17	7	15	14	7	10	53	Gold
11	683	Geoff Bettle	Highcliffe	4	10	25	15	20	7	56	Gold
12	646	Martin Frary	Weston	28	5	12	17	11	15	60	Gold
13	674	Richard Gimmler	Whitefriars	11	13	14	11	15	14	63	Gold
14	716	Paul Ross	Shotley	32	20	9	6	12	18	65	Gold
15	2376	Nick Noble	Portishead	23	14	10	12	10	28	69	Gold
16	707	Pete Dives	Eastbourne	5	21	22	18	13	13	70	Silver
17	589	Keith Paul	Weston	14	18	17	24	18	5	72	Gold
18	700	Nick Grace	Castle Cove	13	35	11	19	14	29	86	Gold
19	629	Ed Presely	RAFSA	6	31	18	55	22	12	89	Silver
20	659	Martin Metcalfe	Killington	22	16	16	20	19	22	93	Silver
21	694	Chris Boshier	Thorpe Bay	25	30	21	13	55	25	114	Bronze
22	696	Tony White	Lancing	12	34	27	23	55	20	116	Silver
23	613	Tony Burton	King George	27	28	29	55	17	16	117	Silver
24	678	Bill Hooton	Burton	38	17	19	55	23	23	120	Gold
25	615	Stuart Backhouse	Burton	16	36	31	55	24	30	137	Bronze
26	718	Duncan Ellis	Hunstanton	19	25	20	55	55	21	140	Silver
27	710	Chris Kirk	Queen Mary	30	41	28	21	21	55	141	Silver
28	2314	Rodger White	King George	15	11	55	55	55	17	153	Silver
29	647	Mark Robinson	Gurnard	31	39	24	16	55	55	165	Silver
30	675	David Gautier	Datchet	18	42	55	22	55	32	169	Silver
31	2359	Tony Cook	Downs	33	26	23	55	55	33	170	Bronze
32	622	Tim Humphries	Pevensey Bay	43	37	30	55	25	40	175	Bronze
33	657	Mike Murley	Weston	26	15	55	55	55	26	177	Silver
34	654	Roger Gates	Datchet	21	19	55	55	55	27	177	Silver
35	2361	Alan Orton	Porthpearn	9	40	55	55	55	24	183	Silver
36	617	Richard Cooper	Brightlingsea	44	46	32	55	26	37	185	Bronze
37	1520	Joel MacDonald	Weston	42	45	26	55	55	41	209	Bronze
38	476	Robert Angus	Weston	35	29	55	55	55	35	209	Bronze
39	673	Howard Osborne	Weston	40	23	55	55	55	39	212	Bronze
40	538	David Bate	Weston	24	33	55	55	55	55	222	Bronze
41	708	Chris Bannister	Brightlingsea	34	24	55	55	55	55	223	Silver
42	649	Mark Basham	Penzance	41	38	55	55	55	34	223	Bronze
43	697	Chris Howe	Oxford	55	32	55	55	55	31	228	Silver
44	692	Colin Gates	Eastbourne	37	27	55	55	55	55	229	Silver
45	693	David Gough	Starcross	39	43	55	55	55	38	230	Bronze
46	2324	Colin Strangeway	WPNSA	45	44	55	55	55	44	243	Bronze
47	549	Andrew Holmes	Glasson	46	48	55	55	55	43	247	Bronze
48	397	Ryan Holmes	Glasson	48	55	55	55	55	42	255	Bronze
49	695	Gerry Driscoll	Datchet	55	55	55	55	55	36	256	Bronze
50	473	Venessa Weedon Jones	Broadwater	47	47	55	55	55	55	259	Bronze
51	303	Wayne Miller	Thorpe Bay	55	55	55	55	55	55	275	Bronze
52	441	Tim Grisby	Thorpe Bay	55	55	55	55	55	55	275	Bronze
53	643	Gareth Humphrey	Weston	55	55	55	55	55	55	275	Silver
54	682	Ginge Lincoln	Hayling Ferry	55	55	55	55	55	55	275	Silver

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