National 12 events 2005

Open meeting at Burghfield SC

After a fantastic day's coaching in brilliant sunshine the day before, ten National 12s took to the water at Burghfield SC for the open meeting on 20 March 2005.

The first race started in overcast conditions with a port-biased line. Graham Camm & Zoë Ballantyne in Babel Fish and David Wilkins & Helen Hunt in Cooked to Perfection both had a fast pin end start, while Richard Williams and Stella Brown decided to give the rest of the fleet a head start by launching from the wrong side of the clubhouse and missing the start. After much battling up the beats, Babel Fish took first place with Antony & Jo Gifford in a close second place and Caroline Martin and Andy Douglas in third.

In the second race, Antony & Jo had a brilliant pin end start and were unstoppable all the way to the finish. Having actually made it to the start on time, Richard & Stella held second place most of the race but were overtaken on the last lap by Graham & Zoë.

In the third race, the sun came out and shone on a fierce fight for first place at the windward mark. Graham & Zoë eventually just slipped round it ahead of Caroline & Andy and took advantage of the clean air to pull out a good lead. Antony & Jo swapped places with Caroline & Andy several times but Antony eventually squeezed through the finish line just ahead of Caroline.

In the Admiral's Cup fleet, Brian & Jackie Whitmey successfully defended last year's title from Mike & Alex Storey (aged 7).

Results

1. Graham Camm & Zoë Ballantyne, Burghfield SC
2. Antony & Jo Gifford, Royal Harwich YC
3. Caroline Martin & Andy Douglas, Burghfield SC