Glorious sunshine welcomed the National 12 fleet to the first ever Coaching Day and Open Meeting at Scaling Dam Sailing Club in North Yorkshire.

A handful of boats took the opportunity to listen to the combined wisdom of Graham Camm and Phil David during the Coaching Day on Saturday. A good breeze in the morning provided some exciting moments for the rescue boat and Raffi Richardson in N3140, Onward, with its new Aardvark inspired paint job.The crews benefited from practice and advice in wide range of conditions as the wind strength dropped steadily during the afternoon.

Twelve 12s took to the water on Sunday to sail for the Secretary's Cup in a light and variable breeze.

A lull in the wind, the close proximity of the shore and a short line combined together to make for an interesting start to the first race. With some boats stuck on the line and some even aground, Graham Camm and Zoë Ballantyne managed to slip away up the first beat, closely pursued by Mark and Emma Simpson. The positions in the top half of the fleet remained unchanged for the rest of the race.

Race 2 saw some unexpected wind shifts at about a minute before the start. Graham and Zoë again eased away from the rest of the fleet. This time the chase was lead by Howard Chadwick and Helen Nicholson and not far behind, John and Alison Cheetham. The fleet bunched around the leeward mark and many of the top places changed hands. As the fleet sailed up the final beat some crews read the wind shifts better than others and the place changes were reversed. Graham and Zoë finished first, clear of the main fleet, Howard and Helen were second with John and Alison third.

Graham and Zoë had 1st place in the bag with a race to spare. Neil and Katie McInnes took the opportunity to test drive a Numinous and the rest of the fleet got ready to compete for the minor places. With results spread amongst a number of boats, 2nd and 3rd places were still there for the taking.

 Mark and Emma got their best start of the day and initially lead the fleet up the first beat. It was Philip and Helen David who rounded the windward mark in first place, closely followed by John and Alison Cheetham and then the rest of the fleet. The shortest race of the day saw the fleet complete just one lap of the course. By the finish Philip and John had move further ahead to finish 1st and 2nd, Howard Chadwick and Helen Nicholson had moved up into third place and Howard and Thomas Steavenson claimed their second 4th place of the day.

It had been an excellent day of close and exciting racing in beautiful sunny conditions. Congratulations to the top three finishers, Graham Camm and Zoë Ballantyne (N3469), Philip and Helen David (N3217) and John and Alison Cheetham (N3209). Many thanks to all those who made the effort and travelled to the event.

Mark and Emma Simpson, N3472

Results

Overall	Helm and crew	Boat	Club
1	Graham Camm/Zoë Ballantyne	N3469	Burghfield SC
2	Philip/Helen David	N3217	Yorkshire Ouse SC
3	John/Alison Cheetham	N3209	Yeadon SC
4	Howard Chadwick/Helen Nicholson	N3356	Yeadon SC
5	Mark/Emma Simpson	N3472	Scaling Dam SC
6	Howard/Thomas Steavenson	N3353	Tynemouth SC
7	Bernard Clark/Richard Willet	N3447	Yorkshire Ouse SC
8	Ian/Sue Simpson	N3244	Scaling Dam SC
9	Bill Chadwick/Kathy Lawson	N3466	Yeadon SC
10	Roger Brisley/Andrew Towler	N3237	Scaling Dam SC
11	Neil/Katie McInnes	N3216	Yeadon SC
12	Ian/Margaret Purkis	N3384	Yorkshire Ouse SC