National
12 Open Meeting Report
Sunday 5th May 2002 at Derwent Reservoir SC
A fleet of 12 National 12;s were greeted by sun and wind for the May weekend open
meeting at Derwent Reservoir a combination which led to some exciting racing
and a few interesting situations.
Race 1 started with John Cheetham suffering a jammed rudder blade, causing him
to sail with it partly raised and Howard Chadwick suffering the same fate but
snapping off a carbon tiller in trying to free the problem.
The fleet got off to a good start with Neil and Yvonne McInnes leading at the
first mark in their Baggy Trousers. The pair were eventually overtaken by
Peter Miatt and Mathew Ayre in Peter’s Feeling Foolish and John and Alison Cheetham
in John's recently de-keeled Crusader, sporting a new suit of sails and going
very fast despite the rudder problems. These positions were maintained to the
finish.
Race 2 saw a full fleet back on the water with Howard's tiller held together with
pieces of wood, tape and a few screws. Peter Miatt was over the line at
the start but otherwise the fleet made a clean start with Brian Miatt, now sailing
with Yvonne McInnes, first to the windward mark in his Final Chapter, closely
followed by Howard Chadwick and Helen Nicholson also in a Chapter.
On the second beat, Howard picked up a favourable shift and managed to pull through
into the lead and hold this position to the finish. Brian Miatt finished
2nd with Peter Miatt just beating Neil McInnes (now sailing with son Alistair)
into 3rd. John and Alison Cheetham retired from the race having spent
some time checking the underside of their hull and then deciding on an early
shower.
Race 3 was sailed back to back with race 2 and this time Howard and Helen were
first to the first mark, followed very closely by Peter and Alexandra Chigwell
and Brian Miatt and Yvonne McInnes in 3rd place. Peter and Alexandra
Chigwell were going exceptionally well but were eventually overhauled by Brian’s
off wind speed. Several severe gusts went through the fleet with one on the
second run causing capsizes for both Neil McInnes and Peter Miatt.
Throughout the event Peter Roe and Helen Bird put in some consistent results to
finish in 4th place overall as the final results revealed.
Overall Results
1st Howard Chadwick and
Helen Nicholson N3384 Final Chapter
design
2nd Peter Miatt and Mathew Ayre N3448 Feeling Foolish design
3rd Brian Miatt and Yvonne McInnes N3313 Final Chapter design
4th Peter Roe and Helen Bird N3149 Baggy Trousers design
5th Neil McInnes and Alistair McInnes N3216 Baggy Trousers design