National Twelves at Salcombe YC Regatta Week

Twenty two National Twelves enjoyed a gloriously sunny week of sailing competing in the Salcombe Yacht Club Regatta between the 3rd and 8th of August. The first of the six races was sailed in a light easterly wind and John  and Katy Meadowcroft in Max Factor together with Bruce and Clare Johnson in Clandestino lead away from the line. However, Will and Robert Henderson in New Isabelle crucially choose the right moment to cross the tide from the Ferry steps and went on to win the race from John and Mandy Thornton in Pillow Fight with Dave and Josie Greening in Annie Apple third.

In race two the Meadowcrofts and Hendersons had a classic tussle in a fresh Easterly wind and on this occasion Max Factor took  the race from New Isabelle with Steve and Jonathan Adshead sailing Fatal Abstraction in third place.  The Meadowcrofts scored their second consecutive victory over the Hendersons in  race three with David and Frances Wilkins securing a third place in their new Feeling Foolish design, Cooked to Perfection. In race four, the Thorntons  in Pillow Fight took the gun from  New Isabelle with one of the twelve fleet's up and coming young sailors, Simon Hinks and Oliver Young, in O'Crikey third. The start of the fifth race was almost irrelevant as during the race the fickle wind in the "bag" of  Salcombe harbour brought some sixty Twelves, Yawls, Solos and Lasers to the same spot at the same
time. The Thorntons managed to extricate themselves from the tangle and went on to secure their second consecutive win with Chris and Kate Edwards in Lars Porsena of Clusium second with the Wilkins in Cooked to Perfection third. The overall result depended on the last race and by coming third, the Hendersons had done enough to win the week, even with a third race win by the Meadowcrofts and a second by the Johnsons.

Overall Results
1st 3418     Will and Robert Henderson.   10 pts    Salcombe YC
2nd 3468    John and Mandy Thornton .    14pts     Henley SC
3rd 3473    John and Katy Meadowcroft   18pts     Henley SC
4th 3449     Steve and Jonathan Adshead  20pts     Spinnaker YC
5th 3461     Dave and Josie Greening        26pts     Salcombe YC
6th 2477     Bruce and Clare Johnson        28pts      Royal Harwich YC



report by malcolm mackley     17 Aug 2003