2003 Western Area Championship at Mount's Bay SC 3rd & 4th May

There were 28 entries for the Western Area Championships held at Mount's Bay SC in Cornwall over the weekend 3rd/4th May. Forcasts for poor weather and strong to gale force southerly winds may have affected entries. On Saturday with the wind blowing 5-6 and forcast to rise to 7 during the afternoon the OOD postponed racing until Sunday scheduing 4 races. The weather on Sunday was a little better, 4-5 with some stronger gusts and a long heavy swell making things very uncomfortable afloat.

There were quite a few capsizes before race 1 got away. Steve and Juliet Long built up a big lead by the windward mark with Anna Row & Jo Szlitkus and Rosie Chapman and Josh Barrow in a close battle for 2nd with Ollie Turner and Charlotte Jones 4th. Steve was never challanged and lead to the finish with Rosie 2nd, Gareth Evans & James Silcock 3rd and Nerissa and Silvania Booth 4th.

Race 2 started with the windward mark reset to give a shorter beat. Ollie retired at the start with a seasick crew (one of many to suffer in the conditions). Once again Steve Long pulled out a big lead by the windward mark followed by Rosie then Ned McNulty & Tom Hodkinson 3rd, Darren and Natalie Roach 4th and Gareth 5th. Once again Steve was never challanged and held his lead to the finish. At the 2nd windward mark Ned had moved up to 2nd, but Rosie overtook him on the downwind leg to lie 2nd at the leeward mark where her spinnaker dropped under the boat putting her out of contention. Ned went on the finish 2nd with Darren 3rd and Gareth 4th.

After lunch race 3 started with conditions slightly worse. Once again Steve Long had pulled out a long lead by the 1st mark follwed by Ned, Gareth and Rosie. At the 2nd windward mark, Darran had moved up to 3rd with Gareth 4th. On the next reach Rosie overtook Gareth but she then suffered more spinnaker trouble after the gybe mark. At the finish Steve was 1st followd by Ned 2nd, Rosie 3rd and Darren 4th.

With 3 firsts Steve had won the championship and declined to sail the 4th race. This started with the wind and swell increasing. Ollie Turner (now with Carly crewing) took the lead at the first mark with Gareth 2nd, Ned 3rd and Darren 4th. At the gybe mark Rosie had got up to 4th, but her spinnaker troubles continued on the reach to the leeward mark. By the 2nd windward mark Ollie was still leading with Ned 2nd and Gareth 3rd. On the run Ned's kicker broke allowing Gareth through to finish 2nd behind Ollie with Ned 3rd and Nerissa 4th.

Steve Long and daughter Juliet dominated the event in her new Duffin built boat “Whatever”. They had 3 straight wins and after the first beat were never challenged. RYA National Squad sailors enjoyed some close racing with frequent place changes and took the next 6 places. In the end there were only 4 points separating 2nd, 3rd and 4th place with Ned McNulty and Tom Hodkinson from Hill Head SC taking 2nd place and the trophy for the first under 16 year olds.

At the prizegiving Steve Long thanked Mount's Bay SC for running an excellent championship and the OOD praised the many young sailors racing for their prowess in such testing conditions. This experience on an open sea venue may prove useful at the forthcoming Nationals in Abersoch. The Prize winners were;

1st - 70222 "Whatever" Steve and Juliet Long, Plym YC:
2nd & 1st under 16 -  69726 "Blew" Ned McNulty and Tom Hodkinson, Hill Head SC:
3rd - 69891 "TBB" Gareth Evans and James Silcock, Warsash SC:
4th & 1st Lady & 1st local boat - 70182 "Agamemnon" Rosie Chapman and Josh Barrow, Mount's Bay SC:
5th 70024 "Nervania" Nerissa and Silvania Booth, Poole YC
Oldest Helm 60100 "Super Sidewinder" Simon Chapman, Mount's Bay SC
Youngest Helm 70202 "Evolution" James Ellis, Plym YC & RPCYC
Oldest Boat 46837 Lewis Crawford & Kyle Ruffell Penzance SC

Preliminary Results: Sailed: 4  Discards: 1  Ratings: None