National 18 Championship- Thursday & Friday Report
By Dave Kneale
The light winds continued for the final races of the 2010 National 18 Class Dinghy Championship sponsored by Isle of Man Assurance.
After the first six races on Tuesday and Wednesday Scottish entry Howlin’ Gael (Stuart Urquhart, Richard Urquhart and Ross Young) led the overall standings, with the Irishmen aboard Das Boot (Tom Dwyer, Peter Hassett and Gregor Davidson) trailing by only one point. Manx entry Gorrum (Michael Kneale, Donald Edwards and Phil Hardisty) lay in third but all was set to change once seven out of the ten scheduled races was completed, as competitors could then discard their worst result.
Race 7 brought yet another intense fight at the front of the fleet as a stable twelve-knot breeze greeted the competitors on Thursday morning. Irish, Scottish and Manx boats all took the lead at some point but current champions Aquaholics (Colin Chapman, Martin Almond and Hugo Berney) found their form and secured the win. Local boat Crossfire (Antony Ellis, Mike Wilson and Nigel Collins) had to settle for second after leading the fleet around the first turning mark, with Das Boot finishing third.
Crossfire achieved their third win of the week after more tight duelling in Race 8, with only three seconds separating Howlin’ Gael, Aquaholics and Das Boot crossing the finish line for second, third and fourth positions.
With a discard now available the overall standings to win the Cork Harbour Trophy couldn’t have been closer going into the final races: Manx boat Crossfire had regained the lead by a single point, with Howlin’ Gael and Das Boot tied for second and third.
An overnight change in wind direction brought rougher seas during the final day of racing, causing several retirements through boat damage. Chief among the casualties was Howlin’ Gael, forced to retire from Race 9 and effectively ending their championship campaign. Tommy Dwyer’s Das Boot also struggled in the testing conditions, finishing sixth and eighth to place them second overall. Neither could challenge Crossfire: well practised in Manx wind and waves and reaping the benefits of a new carbon rig, Antony Ellis’ men emphatically won Race 9 and snatched third in Race 10, giving them the overall championship win and the Cork Harbour Trophy to become the first Manx Winner of the Trophy since 1979, back when Mick Kneale had his winning streak in Woodstock and Maid Mary.
Full results are available below with a collection of photos from the weeks racing in the msr gallery
