2007 National Championships
at Swanage SC
The 2007 UK Albacore Nationals, sailed over the 13,14&15
July at Swanage SC, were won by visitors from America, Barney (Mr
USA Albacore) Harris and his crew, David Byron – but only after
they won the penultimate race following a close battle with last
years Champions, Orlando Gledhill & John Frairy and current
International Champion Chris Turner & Simon Maguire.
Boats started to arrive at the picturesque seaside town on the Thursday
night for the best six from seven race series.
Races 1 & 2
Two races were held on Friday with the same three boats in the first
three positions in the 33 boat fleet. In the first race in Force
4 Chris Turner crewed by Simon Maguire was first to the windward
mark, only to be overtaken on the first reach by “Mr USA Albacore”
Barney Harris crewed by David Byrom. Then Orlando Gledhill and John
Frairy got in front at one point but were beaten to the line by
Harris with Turner third - the rest of the fleet learning how to
deal with the wind, tide and waves!
In the second race the wind dropped to a Force 2 and the sea flattened
with the tide. Harris led from the start with Gledhill going very
fast after a slow start to take second place from Turner.
Races 3,4 & 5
The fleet found a stiff Force 5 for the first of three tiring races
on the Saturday. Chris Turner & Simon Maguire led the race from
start to finish with Gledhill second and Andy Barker crewed by Jackie
Barker third.
In an equally-breezy second race Barney Harris led all the way round
with Gledhill enjoying a swim at the gybe mark to let Turner through
into second place. There were quite a few retirements due to gear
failure, the most serious being veteran Peter Fontes who lost his
mast after turtling!
The wind moderated for the final race of the day with Gledhill storming
away into the lead and Harris second with Barker third. Veteran
John Herbert (a past International and National champion ) was forth.
With two races due for the Sunday the Championships had now become
a three-way race with Harris leading, Gledhill second and Turner
third. Lighter winds were forecast, so whoever could master those
conditions would win the Championships.
Races 6 & 7
As per the forecast, a light Force 2 – 3 North-Easterly gradually
veered round to the South-East during the two races forcing the
Race Team to move the course several times, during and between races.
Harris duly won the penultimate race ahead of Turner and Gledhill
and with it the championship
Making a welcome return to the front of the fleet in the last race
was Neville Herbert crewed by Kay Woods in his father’s new
plastic Speed boat – in fact in the last race five of the first
six boats including the winner were of the GRP persuasion.
In October this year there will be an opportunity for the UK sailors
to take on Barney Harris on his own waters of Chesapeake Bay, USA
together with the rest of the US and Canadian fleets at the biennial
International Albacore championships. Eight boats are going on the
container from the UK but there is still the opportunity to charter
a boat in the States.
All the sailors agreed it had been a great event with testing tide,
tactical beats, screaming reaches, wavy runs and all well-run by
the friendly Swanage Sailing Club and its volunteers. Prizes were
presented by the Lady Commodore of SSC and these included chocolate
kindly provided by local shop, Chococo and Top 10 flags by BML Healthcare
Final results ( 33 entries)
1 Barney Harris and David Byron Potomac River S C
2 Orlando Gledhill & John Frairy Queen Mary S C
3 Chris Turner & Simon Maguire Lyme Regis/ Tynemouth S Cs
4 Jerry Rook & James Wallace Lyme Regis S C
5 John Herbert & Mark Calvert Parkstone S C
6 Richard Gray & Bill Law Parkstone S C
The full results can be found
here
Here are some photos from the event, copies can be obtained from
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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