1989 U.K. Nationals

Seasalter SC, Kent

The 1989 Cherub National Championships were held at Seasalter SC, Kent, from August 30th to September 2nd, and was once more shared with the International Moths. The combination of the only two progressive development classes in the U K is always a happy one, and there is some swapping between the two classes as children arrive or preferences change.

Thursday Afternoon

The first race was held in a wind of about Force 3, with he crews getting out on the wire on beats and reaches, but there was no great excitement. Dave Roe and Wendy Barclay took an early and consistent lead, with Will Per ret's Murray design next, and Guy Lewington. last years winner, following in the mod Murray design Flat Stanley. Will managed to briefly overtake Dave on the last beat, but Dave was ahead again by the line. These two were e followed by Stanley and then Rebel.

Friday

Race 2 was started after a considerable delay waiting for the wind, which never really filled in Matt and Alistair Cope read the wind and tide perfectly to take a lead in Johnny Fartpants, but the conditions ideally suite d Simon Roberts and Kate Butler in Rebel, who took the lead on the reach, with Dave and Wendy following. Simon and Kate built up a big lead on the next beat and Dave dropped back with Kite problems. By the end Rebel had built up a massive lead. Guy, Will and the Copes had a race long battle for second, which went to Will, with Guy third..
The third race was cancelled as the water headed for the horizon.

Saturday

Race four started in a reasonable F#3. Dave immediately took the lead and increased it throughout the race. The Bistro was obviously dramatically quicker than any other boat, and he never looked in any danger. The copes were second for most of the race, but Guy took them on the last triangle when they made a mistake at the gybe mark.
In a fading wind the 5th race was held almost back to back. Nick mason was the first to the windward mark in his Deeley 5, followed by rebel, Norwegian Blue then Kevin Ellway, then Guy L all in close attendance. This whole group had a ferocious battle down the triangle, but the Bistros superior marginal planing speed saw Dave to the front. Dave eventually built up am appreciable lead, followed by Guy, Kevin Ellway and then Paul Handley sailing his own round bilge design boat. Rebel capsized on retrieving the kite at the end of the last reach whilst well up with the main group, and as they already had one poor result this was to cost them dearly. Just after the finish the wind blew up to the top of Force 4, catching everyone unawares as they were running down to the beach with only a foot of water over the mud flats, and thus minimal amounts of foil in the water. This lead to the only spectacular action of the championships, with Moths and Cherubs going wildly out of control and capsizing in knee deep water, thankfully with minimal damage.

Sunday

The strong wind continued all night, but much to everyone's disappointment stopped at about 6am, so the sixth race started in another Force 1. A strong tide turned the race into a tedious procession, with rebel winning easily from Norwegian Blue, who equally easily beat Guy into 3rd. With all the top boats except Dave and Guy having a bad result this effectively sewed up the Championship since Dave could not be caught by Guy for first place, and no-one else could catch Guy for second.
The rerun race 3 was always going to be something of an anti climax, and to make matters worse the wind dropped even further. Rebel won, with Will P second and Dave R third.

Final results saw Dave and Wendy a well deserved first in what was to be the first of many Bistro wins, Guy and Alex second, marking the beginning of the end of Flat Stanley's long period of dominance, and Simon Roberts and Kate Butler a slightly unlucky third place, counting a ninth place alongside 3 wins. In Fourth were Will Perret and Nigel Phillips, an excellent result in a design which is no longer regarded as being in the top flight, and sticky in light weather into the bargain. Last year's runners up, the Copes, were a disappointed fifth, but the light winds suited neither their boat nor their weight.

Overall it was a slightly disappointing Championships marred by light wind and lack of water, although the club was most hospitable and the food excellent. It was good to see two Cherub sailorts among the prizes in the Moths, with Sailmaker Graham Caws taking the best newcomer prize and winning a race, while ace foil builder Andy (Bloodaxe) Paterson taking third overall in his new Moth design, which is even more extreme than the Cherub designs were!

Jim Champ (This report first appeared in Yachts and Yachting)

	Name		No.	Design	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Points
1	Dave Roe	Wendy Barclay	2637	Italian Bistro	0.75	6	2	0.75	0.75	2	6.25
2	Guy Lewington	Alex Windsor	2705	Murray mod Snow	3	4	16	2	2	4	15
3	Simon Roberts	Kate Butler	2624	Howlett 1	4	0.75	0.75	9	10	0.75	15.75
4	Will Perret	Nigel Phillips	2606	Murray	2	2	3	4	7	7	18
5	Matthew Cope	Alistair Cope	2634	Fartpants	10	3	4	3	5	3	18
6	Ian Handley	Paul Handley	2636	Handley	6	5	16	5	4	6	26
7	Nick Mason	Stuart Coles	2627	Deeley 5	8	7	5	6	6	5	29
8	Kevin Ellway	Brett Ellway	2512	Ellway 3	5	9	16	8	3	9	34
9	Graham Dickenson	Owen Dickenson	2628	Robinson 4	7	8	7	11	8	8	38
10	Richard Butler	Clare Butler	2601	Paterson 2	11	14	6	10	11	12	50
11	Bob Clements	Alan Webster	2623	Paterson 3	14	12	9	7	13	13	54
12	Matthew Baker	Simon Baker	2638	Fartpants	9	10	16	rtd	9	10	54
13 & Junior Trophy	Andrew Prince	Julian Linton	2610	Murray	13	13	16	dns	rtd	rtd	74
14	Jamie Stephens	Toby Sharp	2542		15	15	16	dns	dns	16	78
15	Martin Barber	Adam Gay	2640	Italian Bistro	12	11	8	dns	12	11	78