National 12 events 2005
Gill Series 1: Bristol Corinthian YCThe first of the 2005 Gill sponsored national twelve open meeting series was sailed in glorious sunshine and a lovely shifty force 2-3 easterly breeze. 27 boats arrived and the racing was tight and furious round small trapezoid courses, with plenty of photo opportunities for Mike Rice of Fotoboat (www.fotoboat.com). Race one saw Gavin and Jasmine Willis take an early lead from Jon Ibbotson and Kirsty Phipps, only for Graham Camm and Zoe Ballantyne to join the battle and take line honours. The second race was equally tight with Tom Stewart and Liz Ross, Camm and Ballantyne and Ibbotson and Phipps exchanging the lead between themselves throughout. Stewart and Ross eventually prospered from Camm and Ballantyne. On Saturday evening, a "Miss man-o-man" competition was organised by Chris Bishop and three brave volunteers agreed to don some rather fetching dresses and hats for the fleet's amusement. Each contestant paraded down the catwalk, chose an assistant to help them with their makeup and the finalists had to drink a cocktail at speed in a ladylike manner. |
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Left: The three lovely "ladies"
Above: The winner, Andy Miller, strutting his stuff on the catwalk and with expert makeover |
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Sunday dawned greyer with slightly less wind, only for the eleven o'clock start time to prompt the sun to think about coming out and the wind to pick up to the gusty, shifty conditions of the day before. Racing could not have been closer in the third of the series, with the same three leading boats again putting close covering tacks on each other throughout. Life was so hectic on the finish line that unfortunately Zoe Ballantyne sustained a major injury to her thumb, putting her out of action for the rest of the meeting. Jon Ibbotson and Kirsty Phipps finally took line honours from Stewart and Ross with Camm and Ballantyne third. Ibbotson and Phipps dominated race four from start to finish, this time with Frances Gifford and Sophie Mackley just behind in second. Stewart and Ross had severely dented their chances of overall victory with an OCS and Camm and now Mike Cooke crewing slotted in a third to keep their chances alive. So with all to play for in the final race, and Camm and Cooke needing to win, they managed a 9th. Stewart and Ross won from Geoff Camm and Amelia Hall, all of which was enough for Jon Ibbotson and Kirsty Phipps to win the event and the Super Gill prizes of Crew Sports Jackets. The jackets for the Admiral's cup prize (non-double bottomed boats) were equally closely fought for with Kevin Iles and Tim Goodhew sneaking victory from Junior winners Andrew Miller and Chloe Willis. The Gill Super Series continues at Notts County on April 23rd and 24th. Overall Admirals Cup winners - 3373 Kevin Iles and Tim Goodhew |
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Fleet photo courtesy of Fotoboat |
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