National 12 Gill Series 2005

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Mid Year Round-up

The 2005 GILL sponsored National Twelve series has so far attracted 53 participating boats. At the present time it has reached its mid-point with 4 of the 7 events having been sailed, all in excellent conditions.

The first event was at Bristol Corinthian SC on the first weekend of April in glorious sunshine and a lovely shifty force 2-3 easterly breeze. The racing was tight and furious round small trapezoid courses with 3 boats sharing the spoils from the 5 races. Overall, Jon Ibbotson and Kirsty Phipps prevailed with current champions Tom Stewart and Liz Ross having to make do with second. In the Admirals Cup section for the pre-double bottom rule boats, Kevin Iles and Tim Goodhew just sneaked victory from Junior winners Andrew Miller and Chloe Willis.

A cool Easterly breeze greeted competitors for the second event at Notts County Sailing Club with boats arriving from as far apart as Cornwall and Northumberland to compete. Saturday saw its fair share of spills and thrills as the wind gusted to force 5 whilst Sunday was calmer, and the sun shone for much of the time. Racing was very close and again it was the last race of the event that decided the winner. Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne managed to pip Ian and Alex Gore for first place with the Admirals Cup section going to Philip David and Graham Sears.

Derwent Reservoir was the venue for the third event and welcomed competitors with a sunny weekend and a shifty force 3 breeze, a welcome change from the previous 2 years' force 6! Camm/Ballantyne again showed their superiority in these conditions with the Gores pushing them hard repeating their second overall. Kevin Iles, this time sailing with local 12 year old Jack Gebhardt, just took the Admirals Cup section from father and daughter John and Alison Cheetham. In addition to the usual prizes, Gill awarded sunglasses to the three crews who were doing their first GILL event.

Weston SC was the venue for the fourth race in the GILL Series and competitors were greeted by a perfect sea breeze and sunshine, contrary to the forecast. Three races were held back-to-back on the Saturday with a further 2 on the Sunday. Close racing was enjoyed throughout the weekend with less than three minutes separating first and last in one race. Camm/Ballantyne assumed their usual position at the end of the weekend, but this time were followed by Jon and Juliet Brown. In the single bottomed fleet Jerry and Margaret Garner triumphed over Junior winners Felix Newham-Smith and James Muir.

The next event is to be held at Filey SC on 16/17 July - a change from the original published date.

The National 12 class would like to thank GILL for the support for the series and extensive donation of their quality sailing clothing as prizes distributed throughout the fleet.

Results after 4 events:
1st 3492 Babel Fish - Graham Camm/Zoe Ballantyne, Burghfield SC
2nd 3485 F*in Boat - Gavin Willis/Jasmine Willis, Bristol Corinthian SC
3rd 3455 Bart - Caroline Martin/various, Burghfield SC

Admirals Cup
1st 3209 Rebel - John Cheetham/Alison Cheetham, Yeadon SC
2nd 3365 Jemima - Jerry Garner/Margaret Garner, Stour SC
3rd 3373 Sixth Element - Kevin Iles/Tim Goodhew/Jack Gebhardt, Thorpe Bay YC