Pevensey Bay Open meeting - 2001

The Fleet of twenty National Twelves which arrived at Pevensey Bay S.C. on
the 16th of June to race for the Superga Trophy, were greeted by excellent
sailing conditions of fifteen to twenty knots of on shore breeze.

The two races scheduled for Saturday were old style Olympic courses started
off the club line. With a small amount of Starboard bias it was a matter of
just how close to the breaking surf dare you go. Jon and Charlotte Ibbotson
(N3445) got away well, but Tom Stewart & Liz Ross (N3465) with the aid of a
slight header made it to the windward mark first and made good use of their
offwind boat speed to pull away to a comfortable lead. The Ibbotsons were
strongly challenged for second place by Ian Gore & Penny Harris (N3441) who
were always a threat downwind.

Race two started in a similar vein to race one with Stewart and Ross
leading round the windward mark and pulling away downwind to win
comfortably.The Ibbotsons remained consistent and made second place again.
Antony Gifford with new crew Nicola Bass (N3447) battled through to finish
third.

Sunday Morning brought with it off shore breeze and a remarkable number of
hangovers. The tricky and confusing first beat of race three saw several
leaders, John and Jimmy Whitehead (N3458) made the early running, but it
was Tom Stewart & Liz Ross (N3465) who yet again led at the windward mark.
It looked as if they would wrap the meeting up when they pulled away on the
first reach. However the gremlins or possibly 'Stella-vision' struck as
they hit the gibe mark and then capsized attempting a penalty turn. This
left Paul Pelling and Ian Simpkins (3457) with a large lead. The following
group including John & Katy Meadowcroft (3429) the Ibbotsons, the
Whiteheads as well as Stewart and Ross had a tight tactical lap in which
the Ibbotsons came out just ahead of Stewart & Ross, they then
unfortunately clipped the leeward mark allowing Stewart & Ross through. On
the next set of reaches These two boats caught Pelling and Simpkins who
appeared to suffer when the breeze dropped a little. A tight three way
battle to the finish saw the Ibbotsons gain their first win of the weekend
from Stewart & Ross with Pelling and Simpkins dropping to third.

Race four saw no mistake from Stewart & Ross who led from start to finish,
again pulling away to win and take the event with a race to spare. The
Ibbotsons took second place and Bruce and Claire Johnson (3423) made their
presence known in third.

The final start brought a twenty degree port wind shift in the last few
seconds of the count down, flummoxing many crews leaving several boats over
and no route back. Stewart and Ross yet again got away well and after
holding off strong challenges from Gore & Harris, and Graham Camm & Zoë
Ballantine (3469), escaped to another safe victory. The Ibbotsons showed
good speed especially on the final run, pulling through from a messy start
to finish third just behind Gore & Harris.

Results

1st Tom Stewart and Liz Ross 3465 (P&B Feeling Foolish)
2nd John and Charlotte Ibbotson 3445 (Waller Final Chapter)
3rd Ian Gore and Penny Harris 3441 (Feeling Foolish)
4th John and Jimmy Whitehead 3458 (P&B Feeling Foolish)