2005 National Championships at Poole YC

With 91 entries, record numbers for recent years, the Poole Yacht Club Mirror Nationals 2005 was set to be an extraordinary event and with the previous two times National Champion Dan Ellis not attending a new Champion would be named. The standard of entry was none the less exceptionally high, with champions from other classes competing and the 1978 National Champion returning in the Bronze Fleet.

Poole YC did an excellent job catering for both sailors and spectators being treated to some unique and very well received experiences. For those supporters who wanted to be out on the water amid the action a local pleasure boat was acquired for the soul use of the event as a spectator ship. Also, for those on board and ashore, a Radio Station (Mirror FM) set up specifically for the event, provided on the spot live updates from the racecourse (with commentary from Larry Rumbol (Event Organiser) and Peter Aitken (Mirror National Coach)) as well as music and personal competitor profiles to keep everyone entertained and informed throughout the day.

Saturday morning arrived with a vast range of sailors registering thick and fast including 6 single-handers, junior teams, parent and child teams and covering an amazing age range of 7 to 79 years. Several families entered more than one boat, allowing parents to compete against their children and siblings to battle it out.

However as the morning drew on it became more and more apparent to all, that racing was unlikely to get underway. With a constant 30 knots and gusts of 50, the Race Officer postponed racing several times with boats still not launched, before making the decision to finally abandon racing for the day. Needless to say all of the sailors made the most of the situation, enjoying the music and the social side of the sport and receiving some expert coaching from Rob Greig-Gran for the more junior sailors.

Having lost 3 races on day 1, it was hoped to sail 6 races on the Sunday to complete the 9 races planned. Sailors returned to the Yacht Club to frustratingly find very little wind. Racing was postponed again until the early afternoon when the wind began to fill in. Racers where sent out in a steady, but very shifty Force 2/3.

At 12:15 the starting canon was sounded and the postponement flag lowered but with several boats over the line a general recall was sounded. The second start sequence included the I Flag to get racing underway quickly, however again the sailors were not behaving and another general recall took place. With time rapidly slipping away and the chance of getting 6 races in becoming more and more unlikely the Black Flag was raised for the third start. Finally the fleet got away, but not without casualties, with 2 boats being caught over the line. From the start Anna Mackenzie & Holly Scott and William & Rebecca Kalderon got themselves into extremely good positions and heading out to the right they and others found themselves with a huge advantage over the fleet that had sailed left. Not only was there more pressure and less tide, but half way up the beat a massive wind shift gave them a lift. However the race officer decided that this was too great an advantage and abandoned the race and the sailors went ashore still not having completed any races.

After a quick break, the sailors launched again at about 4 pm and another start sequence began, going straight into a Black Flag start. This time all boats were clear and racing was underway. Jamie Knill/Lewis Rumbol came off the line and quickly built up a substantial lead. This lead was held until the final leeward mark where Anna/Holly gained water on Jamie/Lewis and took 1st position on the last leg of the race. Meanwhile further back there was a pileup on the gybe mark involving 10 or so boats with positions changing all the time.

With the wind filling in things were looking up and 2 more races were completed, both starting on a Black Flag, with the last boat coming ashore after 8pm. Unfortunately, the evenings social program including a disco and quiz evening suffered from the late finish and had to be cancelled.

On the final day of racing, with 3 races planned (to make 6), a Black Flag sequence was used for all races. Race 4 started with the fleet split coming off the line, some going to the starboard side and others going to the port. It soon became apparent that the middle-port side of the course was paying off and at the windward mark Juliet and Richard Long came out on top, closely followed by Peter Gray/Rachael Williamson. The majority of the fleet overlaying the buoy meant that considerable gains could be made and with the bulk of the fleet staying on the same gybe to the leeward buoy, positions remained fairly constant. Despite this the Longs and Peter/Rachael continued to lead the fleet and the first five broke away. With the wind tunnelling down Wareham River gybing after the windward mark seemed to pay, with Juliet/Richard Long taking full advantage to win the race.

Anna Mackenzie and Holly Scott went into the final race leading the championships, which were still wide open, as they had been all weekend, with several boats still vying to become the National Champions. Again the winds were extremely shifty and positions were constantly and dramatically changing all through the course. However, father and son team, Hector and Ben Cisneros of Reading SC finished off a very consistent weekends sailing with their first win to take the overall title as Mirror National Champions.

Sam and Ed Nicholls of Maidenhead, achieving an excellent 22nd overall in their first Nationals, won the Silver Fleet for Zone Squad members. The Bronze fleet for the older boats and non-squad junior sailors was won by Martyn and Kieran Ellis of Scaling Dam SC in their 33 year old boat, Martyn the 1978 Champion has now returned to Mirror sailing with his son.

The single handers had an exciting competition; with some overcoming their 5 minutes start handicap to overhaul many double handers. However, Ben Houghton of Weir Quay SC won 4 out of the 6 races to take the overall honours.

The event was extremely competitive and at no point was there a clear-cut winner. Both GRP and wooden boats, old and new, with a variety of equipment and sails, took their turns to appear at the front of the fleet. The top ten represented a true cross section of the class, with four parent and child teams, three RYA National Junior Squad boats, all helmed by girls and three youth sailors. Interestingly half the boats in the top six were over eight years old.

Lastly, Poole YC would like to thank the sponsors Turbo Service International, Piplers of Poole, Trident-UK, Holt and Asda of Poole & Bournemouth without whom the event could not have been the huge success it was.

Despite the changing conditions a good time was had by all and the event was a true reflection on the Mirror Class as a whole.

Results

Sailed: 6  Discards: 1

Results - Single Handers

Sailed: 6  Discards: 1  Ratings: None

Silver Fleet  -  Sailed: 6  Discards: 1

Bronze Fleet  -  Sailed: 6  Discards: 1