It was just as if they had never been away! After a break from major championship racing in the Flying Fifteen, Graham Vials and Chris Turner sealed another UK Championship by winning the last two races on the final day in some style.
The results coming just a couple of months before the World Championships on Dublin Bay in September will be of keen interest to the Irish home fleet, yet only one Irish sailor managed to compete; Alan Green of the National Yacht Club crewing for former World Champion and regular Dublin Bay visitor, Charles Apthorp who finished 12th overall.
For the final days racing, Poole Bay delivered a typical July summer morning with warm sunny skies and a gentle NW offshore breeze that wafted down the racecourse in patches with an abundance of shifts.
The PRO set a 3 lap windward/leeward course with the usual target race time of 50 minutes. After one false start the fleet got underway at around 1230hrs. At the first windward mark it was the familiar blue spinnaker of Vials and Turner representing Derwent Reservoir/Lyme Regis SC, that popped out in front. They were closely followed by another multiple world f15 champion in Steve Goacher and crew Tim Harper from the Lake district. Steve and Tim were back on form today challenging and sometimes leading the champions elect, however they lost both races to Vials and Turner on the final lap.
Richard Lovering and Matt Alvarado (HISC/WYC) pulled through the fleet to take third ahead of Richard Whitworth and Ben Scroggie (Parkstone YC/Hollingworth Lake SC). Richard and Ben were the only team with a chance to usurp Vials and Turner and their 4th meant they had effectively conceded the championship lead.
Notably the first four boats each used different sailmakers!
The final race of the regatta took three attempts to start. Late wind shifts and a couple of recalls later, the final race was started around 1230hrs. This time the Goach popped out in the lead and held it throughout lap 1 but with Vials and Turner breathing down his neck. Behind them the race for the minor placings provided quite a tussle between another returning champion, Greg Wells, now sailing with Andrew Jameson, and Nathan Batchelor from Ovington Boats, sailing with Ricky Rigg and Hamish Mackay crewed by Andrew Lawson.
By lap 3 Vials and Turner had edged into a few boat lengths lead, sufficient to cover their opposition to the finish line. They cruised over the line for their fifth race win of the regatta and a clear margin of 18 points overall.
On the last lap, the Batchelor/Rigg combo pulled through to snatch second place from Wells/Jameson in third pushing Goacher/Harper back to fourth. Meanwhile, the battle for third overall was still in play, David Tabb and Chewey Sherrell (Parkstone YC) maintained top ten consistency all regatta to hold off the sprint finish of the Goach.
Bobby Salmond crewed by Will Morris won the Classic division in his f15 number 627.
Top 6 overall of 47 boats
1. 4071 Graham Vials / Chris Turner - Derwent Reservoir/Lyme Regis SC - 19pts
2. 4020 Richard Whitworth / Ben Scroggie - Parkstone YC/Hollingworth Lake SC - 37pts
3. 4052 David Tabb / Chewey Sherrell - Parkstone YC - 49pts
4. 4021 Steve Goacher / Tim Harper - RWYC/WLSC - 52pts
5. 4002 Richard Lovering / Matt Alvarado - HISC/WYC - 55pts
6. 4030 Greg Wells / Andrew Jameson - Hayling Is SC - 55pts
Full results here
