Race 2

• 1st Alister Morley
• 2nd Steve Cockerill
• 3rd Ian Houston
• 4th Jamie Lea
• 5th Ben McGrane

David Rowe took an impressive set of photos during day 1 of the Championships. They can be seen here .

Monday 31st July

Day 2 of the Holt sponsored National Championships dawned with broken cloud and stronger winds than forecast. Only half the competitors braved the conditions with many coming in after the first race. The wind strengthened so much that chips were blowing off plates in the lunch break!

In the first race of the day Steve Cockerill rounded well ahead of the 2nd placed boat but had been caught by the leeward mark. However Cockerill held his lead to take 1st from Morley in 2nd.

By the start of the second race the wind had reached a force 5-6. Cockerill again showed his strength in these conditions however he dropped it at the gybe at the leeward mark allowing Jamie Lea who wore round to take the lead which he held to the finish with Cockerill recovering well in 2nd.

Race 3

• 1st Steve Cockerill
• 2nd Alister Morley
• 3rd Jamie Lea
• 4th Ian Houston
• 5th Robbie Wilson

Race 4

• 1st Jamie Lea
• 2nd Steve Cockerill
• 3rd Alister Morley
• 4th Robbie Wilson
• 5th Andy Davis

Overall standings after Day 2

• 1st Steve Cockerill
• 2nd Alister Morley
• 3rd Jamie Lea
• 4th Robbie Wilson
• 5th Ian Houston

Tuesday 1st August

Many of the competitors at the Holt sponsored National Championships were hoping for less wind than the previous day but the forecast was set for another Force 5+.

As the fleet prepared to start a big shift came through leading some of the competitors (including Ian Houston, who was probably still in shock after buying a round in the bar the previous evening) to head to the wing mark instead of the windward mark. Robbie Wilson was the first to reach the windward mark, closely followed by Chris Goldhawk and Jamie Lea.

Lea passed Wilson to leeward on the 2nd reach as Wilson went high. Lea held this position with Cockerill pulling past Morley on the last reach and covered up the final beat to hold on to take 2nd place ahead of Morley 3rd and Andy Davis pulling through the fleet to take 4th.

With big squalls forecast and over 25 knots of breeze already on the water the fleet were sent home for the day as racing was abandoned.

Race 5

• 1st Jamie Lea
• 2nd Steve Cockerill
• 3rd Alister Morley
• 4th Andy Davis
• 5th Kevan Gibb

Standings after Race 5 with 1 discard.

• 1st Steve Cockerill 6pts
• 2nd Jamie Lea 7pts
• 3rd Alister Morley 9pts
• 4th Robbie Wilson 15pts
• 5th Ian Houston 20pts

Wednesday 2nd August

Wednesday dawned with mercifully less wind than the previous day and with more boats venturing out under bright sunshine for the Holt sponsored Nationals Championships at Felpham SC.

The 1st race was held in Force 3 rising to 4 with the waves yet to build. The usual suspects of Jamie Lea, Andy Davis, Steve Cockerill and Ian Houston emerged from the pin end and maintained positions while Robbie Wilson moved to take 2nd.

Breeze and chop became heavier for the 2nd race which got away after a General Recall with most leaders electing to head inshore. Ben McGrane lead at the top mark chased by Ian Houston, Jamie Lea, Alister Morley and Gordon Barclay.

At the start of the 2nd beat a big shift hit the course with Morley going hard left to seize a good lead which he held to the finish.

Drama unfolded at the end of the 2nd run with McGrane and Houston capsizing allowing Cockerill and Lea through to battle it out up the final beat. At the finish it was Morley 1st with Lea 2nd, Steve Ede showed strength up the last beat to snatch 3rd place from Cockerill in 4th.

Race 7

• 1st Jamie Lea
• 2nd Robbie Wilson
• 3rd Ian Houston
• 4th Steve Cockerill

Race 8

• 1st Alister Morley
• 2nd Jamie Lea
• 3rd Steve Ede
• 4th Steve Cockerill

Overall standings after Day 4

• 1st Jamie Lea 10pts
• 2nd Steve Cockerill 13pts
• 3rd Alister Morley 16pts
• 4th Robbie Wilson 23pts
• 5th Andy Davis 34pts
• 6th Ian Houston 34pts

Thursday 3rd August

Thursday dawned bright and sunny at the Holt sponsored Solo Nationals but with offshore winds of Force 5-6 racing was abandoned for the day.

Friday 4th August

Finally, the heavy weather had abated overnight at last and sailors were greeted with a flat sea on Friday morning for the final day of the Holt sponsored Solo National Championships. Several postponements/general recalls occurred while the sea breeze gradually settled to a Force 2-3 from the SW to give the first of two more seasonal races than the near gales prevailing the previous day.

Jamie Lea and Andy Davis barged their way in on port at the windward mark leaving race leader Steve Ede floundering while Jamie Lea got away. Having exonerated himself, Andy Davis fell back while Chris Brown pulled through on the reaches to claim second place. Meanwhile, Steve Ede made his way back up to 3rd on the final beat by footing off under Chris Goldhawk and Steve Denison.

The sea breeze continued to increase to a good Force 3 and the fleet got away for the second race of the day at the second attempt despite a huge pin end bias to the line causing the whole fleet to roll immediately onto port tack.

Chris Goldhawk led at the first windward mark having tacked off the quickest after the start but Jamie Lea moved through on the second reach to take the lead, the race and the National Champion title. Meanwhile, Steve Cockerill also made up ground on the off wind legs to climb to 4th place by the finish behind Chris Brown.

Race 11

• 1st Jamie Lea
• 2nd Chris Brown
• 3rd Steve Ede
• 4th Chris Goldhawk
• 5th Jack Norton

Race 12

• 1st Jamie Lea
• 2nd Chris Goldhawk
• 3rd Chris Brown
• 4th Steve Cockerill
• 5th Ben McGrane

Thanks to Felpham SC for making it an excellent Nationals both on and off the water and thanks to Holt for their generous sponsorship of the event.

First Junior - Paul Childs
First Lady - Vanda Young
First Veteran - Nick Rawlings
First Grand Master - Gordon Barclay
First Buddy Pairs - Bob Taylor/Jack Norton

First Plate Series - Richard Gibbon

Top Club - Littleton SC - Ian Houston/Vanda Young/David Gates

Fotoboat recorded all the action - photographs can be found here