GILL N12 Series 2003 – Event Two

Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club

 

Derwent Reservoir was the venue for the second event in the Gill N12 Series and attracted 26 boats travelling from an enormous catchment area as far as Australia, Inverness and Brighton! The fleet were greeted with glorious views, great hospitality and a blustery and shifty force 3-4.

 

The shifty conditions provided close racing and much place changing throughout all the races. After the first two races Steve Sallis & Jenny James were tied with John & Katy Meadowcroft both having secured a first and second place. Saturday night offered superb food and drink and a seminar on lightwind sailing (presented by the current National Champion Graham Camm). Whilst not totally appropriate for the conditions, the seminar was extremely enjoyed by all.

 

Sunday dawned, bright and very, very breezy.  While the courses on Saturday had been straightforward, Sunday provided much more complexity. The force 5-6 gusting 7, combined with courses containing up to 5 gybes per lap, challenged all of us, made life very interesting and great for spectators.

 

Steve and Jenny continued their winning streak taking the first two races and dropping to second in the last race.  Challenges were made by Terry Cooke & Charlotte Hardy, who lead the first race for a lap until an unfortunate rudder breakage ended their day;  John & Katy Meadowcroft, sailing their super-wide Final Chapter and Geoffrey Camm & Amelia Hall, who won the final race. Kevin Iles & Jane Jones were constantly tussling with the top three and achieved a great days results with a 4^th, 2^nd and 4^th, putting them first Admirals Cup boat. The Admirals Cup fleet well outnumbered the Double bottom fleet.  Racing in the Admirals cup was close with few points separating contenders.  A beautifully restored vintage 12, N1856, sailed on the Saturday, but chose not to risk the conditions on the Sunday and potentially undoing all his good restoration.

 

Overall:

1^st N3436 Steve Sallis and Jenny James 5 points

2^nd N3464 Geoff Camm and Amelia Hall 10 points

3^rd N3473 John & Katy Meadowcroft 11 points

4^th N3469 Graham Camm and Zoe Ballantyne 13 points

5^th N3373 Kevin Iles and Jane Jones 14 points

 

Admirals Cup:

1^st N3373 Kevin Iles and Jane Jones 14 points

2^nd N3217 Phillip David and Sue Jones 25 points

3^rd N3358 Howard Chadwick and Helen Nicholson 37 points

4^th N3365 Jerry & Margaret Garner 37 points

 

The highest placed junior was Graham Iles & Lindsey Iles and Neil McInnes crewed by his daughter Katie were highest placed in the Family Cup.

 

The leaders of the Gill N12 Series after 2 events are John & Katy Meadowcroft and in the Admirals fleet Kevin Iles with assorted crews. The next Gill event is at Royal Harwich Yacht Club over the bank holiday weekend of 24/25/26 May.

 

Geoff Camm & Amelia Hall

National Twelve Owners Association.