Gill Series Final Event
Grafham Water SC
1st November 2003
Over 45 boats arrived at Grafham on Saturday the 1st
of November for the final deciding event in the Gill National 12 series 2003.
At least three boats were in with a shot of winning the series and the other
main prizes still to be decided.
Race one got underway in a good force 3 to 4. Leading
at the first mark was National Champion Tom Stewart crewed by Liz Ross. After a
couple of rounds of the trapezoid course the positions had evened out, allowing
Jon Brown and Charlotte Ibbotson - sailing the new Bim Daser design to pick up
the chase in second with Mike Cooke and Helen Hunt to take third. They kept
these places to the finish, with Graham Camm and Zoe Ballantyne taking fourth
place. Kevin Iles and Jane Jones took the first Admirals cup postition in the fleet
for boats without double floors.
Race two was sailed back to back with race one. After
a clean start, Tom Stewart was again leading at the first mark, closely
followed by Mike Cooke and Geoffrey Camm, sailing with Amelia Hall. At the end
of the first round Mike had dropped out of the chase to 5th, allowing Steve
Sallis sailing with Alayne Seymour to take third and Antony Gifford into 4th.
Tom pulled out a small lead which he held to the finish, with Geoff coming in
second and Mike pulling back to third with Steve taking fourth at the line.
After a pause for lunch to enjoy Grafham's catering
facilities race three was started in a lighter breeze, with an individual
recall and several boats over the line. Tom Stewart again took the lead which
he held to the finish, closely followed home by the chasing pack of Jon Brown
and Steve Sallis. At the end of it all, Tom owed his last race win to a bit of
a head start at the line and was judged OCS allowing Brown to take the win.
The class would like to thank Grafham for hosting the
final event and Gill for their generous support of the series over the next two
years.
Main Fleet
1st Tom Stewart and Liz Ross - 3476 - Feeling Foolish
design - Northampton SC
2nd Jon Brown and Charlotte Ibbotson - 3483 - unnamed
design - Royal Harwich YC
3rd Steve Sallis and Alayne Seymour - 3436 - Feeling
Foolish design - Hykeham SC
4th Mike Cooke and Helen Hunt - 3472 - Big Issue
design - Notts County SC
Admirals Cup
1st Kevin Iles and Jane Jones - 3373 - Baggy Trousers
design - Thorpe Bay YC