Whitstable YC
Open: 5th & 6th June 2010
Report by Mike Palfreman &
Photos by Champion
Photography
In spite of a forecast that could best
be described as feeble, yet sunny, 23 Musto Skiffs turned
up at Whitstable risking the possibility of spending
a windless weekend cultivating a lobster tan on the
beach. With the Race Committee carrying out their threat
of turning races around quickly (invariably the finishing
gun for the last boat was the 5 minute for the next
start) seven excellent, closely fought races were shoe
horned into the weekend.
In the first two races Rick Perkins reaped
the benefits of a slightly dubious training strategy
of hardly sailing (allegedly) for the last 12 months
whilst slimming down to waif like proportions on his
road bike. This led to the swift accrual of two bullets
whilst being followed home by Dan Henderson (student)
and Richard Stenhouse (recent father) who have quite
clearly employed contrasting training regimes in recent
months.
Henderson improved to win the third but only after chasing
down the Gocycle sposored Dan Parsons who constructed
his perfectly timed port end flyer with the calculated
precision of the aforementioned product giving him a
healthy lead in the early stages. Mike Palfreman hung
on to win the fourth after sneaking past Andy Peake
and Stenhouse on the second beat and holding off a spirited
challenge from Henderson at the finish.
The whole fleet were then to be placed
deeply in the debt of the club kitchen and bar staff.
Following a fantastic curry the club showed admirable
tolerance by keeping the bar open until gone midnight
whilst a sizable proportion of the fleet witnessed the
mighty Jon Simpson’s frankly naïve and ill informed
challenge to all comers for an arm wrestle before Sten
had left the clubhouse. A reasonable crowd gathered
to witness the expected shattering of bone and torn
sinew but thankfully the emergency services remained
undisturbed. Further evidence of a successful evening
was provided by Gavin Brewers account of self inflicted
gastric illness early the following morning.
Sunday dawned with similar conditions
and a strong tide sweeping down the course. Henderson
held a slender lead from Perkins with a close knit group
containing Bruce Keen, Stenhouse, Peake and Palfreman
a few points adrift. With Henderson winning the first
race from Perkins it looked like the writing was on
the wall for the rest of the fleet. However an 8th in
the second race of the day after Sergei Samus took the
fleet (and possibly himself) by surprise with another
port ender had left the door open especially as Perkins
took the bullet.
In amongst the chasing pack Jamie Hilton was putting
together a consistent series with a collection of 3rd’s
and Nigel Walbank was threatening the top 6 positions
with increased regularity. Andy Peake, presumably suffering
a lasting numbness in his fingers and toes on account
of his recent arctic exploits suffered a rare capsize
taking him out of the running for the podium positions.
Off the line in the final race Perkins
and Palfreman sailed off to the left with Perkins expressing
some concern over a sizable lift that looked to be materializing
on the right that Stenhouse and Hilton looked to be
taking full advantage of. The breeze held on the left
however and Perkins once again led the fleet round.
With the wind building to around 12 knots on the final
lap Palfreman managed to soak down preventing Perkins
from gybing and holding on to win the last race.
So Rick Perkins took a well deserved victory from Dan
Henderson with Palfreman taking further advantage of
a last minute tactical decision on behalf of the IT
department hoisting him up to 3rd place on countback
from Bruce Keen.
Huge thanks to Whitstable Yacht
Club for laying on a fantastic event and especially
Francis Stileman for his hard work in organising and
competing in the event.
 Results:
1 293 Rick Perkins Whitstable YC
2 409 Daniel Henderson Thorpe Bay SC
3 295 Michael Palfreman Stokes Bay SC
4 205 Bruce Keen Stokes Bay
5 369 Richard Stenhouse Rutland
6 281 Jamie Hilton Datchet Water
Full
results table >>>
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