Carnac open meeting

The National 12 Goes International
by Sophie Richards and Freya Lillywhite
 
The National 12 class took to international waters as a fleet for the very first time over the May bank holiday weekend at Carnac Yacht Club in Brittany, France. Remarkably the fleet of 12s were joined by French sailors, Pauline and Jean Marie Luthringer all the way from Paris, making the fleet truly international.
 
On the water after an inter-class handicap event on the Saturday (with some incredible reaches), the shifty conditions on the Sunday left Graham and Zoe Camm with two bullets after pulling back to lead from John Ibbotson and Charlotte Stewart. As the breeze increased on the Monday, John and son, Oliver Meadowcroft (who were sailing first time on the sea together!) hiked out the beat to make it first to the windward mark in both races, but once again the Camms pulled their way back into pole position on the runs to take the win.

It all looked wrapped up for the Camms on the final day, but the battle was on for second with John and Oliver doing everything they could to keep John and Charlotte behind them. However, John and Charlotte led from the start of the final race to take second.

 
A special well done goes to 12 crews Oliver Meadowcroft and Freya Lillywhite who were the youngest competitors at the event! Now let’s hear from Freya …
 
A crew’s view of the event … by Freya Lillywhite (aged 10)

On Saturday 24th of May the Carnac Regatta started. The classes which took part were Larks, Merlin rockets, Enterprises, Scorpions and National 12s.The first race was its fun handicap race which got everyone wet without capsizing.
 
What I liked most about the Regatta was how friendly the race team and staff were and the weather (as we heard reports from England of bad weather). One of the social events was the challenging three legged race which was funny because adults would get a glass of wine at every stop and children would get lemonade (5 stops in total).
 
After the race the prize giving started followed by a Super Buffet! During the Super Buffet there was football match - Meadowcrofts VS Stewarts and Lillywhites.
Meadowcrofts                         9
Lillywhites and Stewarts         7
 
The food at the Yacht club was excellent! The super Buffet included langoustines, salmon, sandwiches and cake. Things I liked: the food, the staff and the race team, the course, the social events, the weather.
 
A massive thanks from the National 12s goes to Tom Jeffcoate for making the event a great success and the team at Carnac Yacht Club along with sponsors GJW Direct.

 
Overall Results
1st Graham and Zoe Camm
2nd John Ibbotson and Charlotte Stewart
3rd John and Oliver Meadowcroft
First Admirals Cup: Neal and Freya Lillywhite