N12 Open Meeting at Nottingham Sailing Club, 8th May 2004

The first race started with clearing rain, light winds and a reasonably strong current on the River Trent, with John Sears taking the lead by the end of the first lap. By the end of the race David Wilkins, Nigel Goodhew and Graham Camm had overtaken him to take 1st, 2nd and 3rd places respectively.

After restarting the 2nd race due to a general recall Graham Camm established a good lead in the first lap, with Ian Gore in 2nd place. Camm held this lead to the finish, with Sears overtaking Gore to take 2nd place.

By the final race the wind had changed direction and filled in, whilst remaining unsteady. Over 4 short laps, Camm lead the field at the end of each lap with other places constantly changing. Camm won the race to retain the trophy, with Mike Cooke taking 2nd place. The first seven boats all finished within a minute, giving an exciting end to the day's sailing.

Racing was followed by cakes, before the fleet moved to Trent Valley Sailing Club for an evening meal.

Results

1st Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne 3469 Burghfield SC
2nd David Wilkins & Susie May 3481 Spinnaker SC
3rd John Sears & Lindsay Ogden 2957 Notts County SC
4th Ian Gore & Alex Gore 3441 Up River SC

 Mark rounding chaos at Nottingham

Photo: Geoff Camm

 Trent Valley National 12 Open - 9th May 2004

Around a dozen National 12's turned out for the Trent Valley open meeting held on the 9th May. The first race saw Nigel and Hannah May make the best of the light winds, leading all the way to the finish. After a number of place changes (and a high number of retirements as most of the fleet considered the challenge too much), light weather experts Geoff Camm and Amelia Hall took second place with N3309 finishing third.

Over lunch, a Force 1.1 wind arrived, tempting the fleet back out for a second race. This time it was Graham Camm and Zoe Ballantyne who took the race, overtaking early leaders Ian and Alex Gore who finished second ahead of John Sears and crew.

With everything to play for, tensions were high for the deciding race. Once again the Gores were the early leaders, ahead of Graham and Zoe and Geoff and Amelia. These three boats crept around the up tide mark and disappeared down tide, leaving the remainder of the fleet behind. By the second lap, the three leading boats had lapped most of the fleet, still struggling to get around the first mark. The positions at the front remained the same, giving the Gores the meeting by virtue of winning the last race.

Overall Results

1st Ian and Alex Gore, Tabitha Musto, Up River YC
2nd Graham Camm and Zoe Ballantyne, Thanks for all the fish, Burghfield SC
3rd and Admiral's cup: John Sears and Lindsay Ogden, Punkawallah, Notts County SC

Trent Valley was also the second Vintage open meeting of the year. This was the first time the Vintage section has held an open meeting at Trent Valley, but it is hoped this will become a regular fixture. Ken Goddard kindly lent out his Proctor Mk 12 to Mike Haynes as he was unable to attend, resulting in a local battle between Mike and Paul Turner, also a TVSC member:

Vintage Results:

1st Paul Turner (TVSC), crewed by James Ferguson, N2487 Dolly Daydream (China Doll)

2nd Honourable mention for Mike Haynes (TVSC) and son Ben in their very first open meeting, N2300 Duodecimal (Proctor Mk12)