Race Reports

Tornado Nationals 2007

Weston Sailing hosted the Tek-Group Tornado Open and National Championship over the long weekend Friday 7 -Sunday 9 September 2007.

The National championship started well with sunshine greeting most of the fleet on Thursday 6 September. Andrew Macpherson, Australian National Tornado Champion, ran a very informative on the water training session for those that wished to attend, in what probably was the best wind of the weekend, sunshine and a pleasant 8-10 knots of breeze.

Friday morning greeted the 22 boats, glorious sunshine and a postponement flag, not a breath of wind, however the race officer nightmare continued as the wind built to a steady 10-11 knots on the proposed race track but no wind to get the boats there and racing was abandoned for the day. However an enjoyable social event was held in the evening at the commodores reception, kindly sponsored by Tek-Group.

Day 2. With a back log of 3 races the race officer decided to get in as many races as he could. Scheduling up to 6 short races in a fairly inconsistent 8 knots of northerly breeze and lots of tide.  The fleet set off from Weston sailing club and enjoyed a lovely sail to the race course showing the race officer the speed they could travel on the 30 minute journey overtaking the committee boat which had set off at the same time. 

Race 1, this race was dominated at the front by GBR 7, Rob Wilson and Mark Bulkley who led from start to finish with the NZL 73, the local resident Kiwi husband and wife crew of David Shaw and Susan Shaw having a good battle and eventually winning the fight for 2nd and 3rd with GBR 417 of Will Sunnocks and Simon Farrell. However close racing came to be the theme of the weekend with slight mistakes or picking wrong shifts costing many crews places and a few sitting on the wrong side of the starting line.

Race 2, again an RYA crew led from the front, however this time it was the development squad members of John Gimson and Stuart Bithell who led from start to finish with the visiting Danish crew, DEN 1 of Allan Norregarrd and Michael Risor taking 2nd with another local boat GBR 418 of Grant Piggott and Greg Wendle taking 3rd.

Race 3, with the fleet jockeying for position on the line the race officer flew a postponement flag.  So with an abandoned start the fleet were keen to get away on the 2nd attempt. However a long line and a huge windshift meant that the beat was one sided and the race ended up being a procession and the race officer shortenened course after 2 laps, with GBR 5 of Chris Rashley, who also is a development squad member, sailing with a new crew for this weekend of Simon Marks, 2nd was another development squad boat of Gimson/Bithell, with yet another development squad member GBR 430 of Andrew Walsh and Ed Barney taking 3rd.

Race 4, by this time the sunshine was now beginning to warm the land and what wind there was, was becoming inconsistent, which meant that picking the right shifts upwind and downwind was at a premium. It was the Danes who made the fewest mistakes winning this one with, with Wilson/Bulkley taking 2nd and Gimson/Bithell taking 3rd.

With 4 races sailed a championship was now on. Race 5 started in a decreasing breeze. This race was won by Walsh/Barney, with the local Piggott/Wendle crew taking 2nd and 3rd being GBR 3 of Tom Phipps and his new crew Marcus Lynch gain another development squad member. With this race complete the fleet started the long sail back up Southampton water to the host club for another social event, this time trying not to burn the clubhouse down with the stereo system, with the Gimson/Bithell crew leading overnight, the Danish crew 2nd on count back over Wilson/Bulkley.

Day 3, and with not much difference in the weather forecast, the fleet set off for the race course. Race 6, a light wind and what felt like more tide that the previous day, the fleet had its first and only general recall of the weekend. The race officer took the bold step of the dreaded black flag forcing the fleet to behave. This they did, with Walsh/Barney taking the lead in this, as it turned out to be, important race. With close racing to the windward mark the top 5 rounded within feet of each other, But with clearer air Walsh/Barney led the fleet, however with the close racing many of the leading bunch failed to spot new pressure and less tide on the left of the final run which allowed the Piggott/Wendle boat to come flying in at the finish just being pipped by the Rashley/Marks boat.

Race 7, with the wind swinging it was again the Walsh/Barney who took an early lead to the windward mark with the GBR 415, Leo Farrow and Roby Garca, the Danish crew 3rd.  A lot would now depend on a good hoist with the leading 5 boats so close, so the run started, however the wind did not and after what seamed an eternity for many of the crews the race officer abandoned sailing for the day, and the championship. With many permutations to work out the fleet would have to wait for the results.

Such was the standard of  the Tornado fleet the winning overall boat of Walsh/Barney, the 2005 champions, could only count 2 1st places in their results, with Wilson/Bulkley taking 2nd and the overnight leaders of Gimson/Bithell taking 3rd. Despite the lack of wind it was mainly an enjoyable event, made possible by this years sponsors Tek-Group and all the members of Weston Sailing Club who made this event possible.

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Fast Boat Race 22nd July 2007

This year the FBR saw a couple of high profile Cats enter the race The New TEK-KAT a Manufacturer’s One Design launched by the TEK GROUP who also Sponsored the event this year. Plus a VX 40 Extreme, ABN AMBRO,  helmed by Johnnie Hutchcroft.

The Race was sailed in near perfect wind conditions, Force 3-4 with bright blue skies. The Fleet consisted of a good mix of F18, Tornado, Spitfire, Hurricane SX, Inter 20 and also this year a couple of A Classes.

The race started off with the Tek-Kat pulling away followed by the VX 40, starting from the back of the fleet having stood back from the fleet on the start. Adam Piggott in the Nacra and James & Gillian Power in the Capricorn pushing hard with the Tornado‘s showing their pace up front.

On reaching the hamble entrance the Tek-Kat took a risk and sailed into the shallows of Hill Head. They grounded and capsized at full speed. After righting the boat and checking for damage, all looked good so after about a 20 minute break they started again.

Dave Pittman and Pete Jary in Tornados showed the rest of fleet the way round as the VX 40 had by now pulled out a clear lead. This year we managed to complete the full race going on from Peters & May Buoy up to Hurst Castle. The Race Took between 4 to 6 hours for the whole fleet. The Tek-Kat managed to pull back to third on the water just beaten by a couple of minutes by the Tornado of Pete Jary. The VX 40 completed the Race in 3.55.51 setting the course record.

Once again the F18 proved to be the winner Adam Piggott and Sam Jones sailing the Narca Infusion. Second place to James Power and Gillian Power and third Stuart Gummer and Georgina Burke both in Capricorn’s .The prize for First Tornado went to Pete Jary and Tim Roden and Line Honors to Johnnie Hutchcroft in the VX40.

Race Results

Handicap time corrected results