2001 Nationals Competitors

Shiny Beast		Alex and Andy Paterson didn't have one of their best series. They suffered in the heavy airs against heavier crews, espeicially when their brand new spinaker tore badly two days running. But in the lighter conditions they easily left the pack behind. 3rd.
Domino		A first Nationals for Craig Johnson and Dominic Barker, with the only boat which had no 97 rules modifications. Still on the learning curve, they suffered a few snags as well and only finished 3 races. 13th.
Fizzy Shark		Tim Dean and Una-Mary Colclough were responsible for perhaps the most dramatic incident of the series, capsizing two others who attempted to get past them in a luffing match. Suffered in the lighter airs with their small kite when they were rolled downwind by the masthead spinakers but relished the strong winds and their brand new self tacking jib. 4th.
Fuzzy Logic		Martin Hurst and Jonathon Garfitt had a wretched series. Late to arrive because Martin couldn't get the Thursday off, and then had a minor gear failure in the 3rd race of Friday. Here they are holding the remains of the previously intact rudder stock they handed to a rescue boat for "Safe Keeping". The same boat took out a spreader, the centreboard case and their event. Rotten luck. Winners of the "Didgeridon't" Trophy and 15th.
Geriatric Gigolo		Mike Miller and Scott Kaczor had an outstandingly successful first Nationals, finishing with the best result of the first time Nationals sailors. They got better and better as the series went on and have promising potential. Lets hope that Scott will now change his mind about selling his boat! The only downside will be the damaged mainsail they acquired whilst failing to roll over Fizzy Shark. I can just see the Insurance claim form : Cause of Damage - Shark Bite! 5th.
Halo Jones		Jim Champ and Ben Brown, who did an excellent job: never having sailed a Cherub in any breeze before day 1, he steered the oldest boat (and crew) in the fleet to 8th place, in spite of a minimal 97 rules conversion consisting only of snout, new jib and a slightly enlarged spinnaker.
Hong Wang Pao		Billy Wood and Iain Everett had a slightly erratic series, but put together some good results on the last day. The gray snout was new for the series, replacing the less substantial item that was lost earlier in the season. 10th.
Other Way Up		An unfortunate selection of boat problems - they had to rebuild the spinnaker chute half way through- prevented Ken Appleby and James Collet from putting together a better series. 14th.
Pasta Frenzy		Clare Warren and Dave Roe. They put together a super consistent series, with all 1sts and seconds, but ultimately the Slug was quicker when it blew and the Paterson 7 quicker when it didn't. And Dave can't afford to be late for starts anymore. 2nd, and Clare won the Lady's Teapot.
Little Red Number		A whole set of teething troubles left Patrick Cunningham and Mark Turner with too many retirements - not to mention a certain Port and Starboard incident which your webmaster may remind them about for a while... But the second Paterson 7 was going exceedingly well between times, and the only boat to really threaten the 5 top old hands. 11=
Version One		Already causing uproar on the mailing list the day after the Nationals, Phil Alderson and Dave Carty's deflared Paterson 7 presents a radically different appearance. Not remotely finished when they arrived on the Thursday after an all night drive from Scotland, they worked and worked and managed to finish the last race. Winners of "the Ashes" trophy and 16th.
Pistrix		Joe Snawden and Natalie Butcher put together a good consistent series, and took home the improver's prize. Joe might be interested to learn that the huge trophy on his wall is in fact a half model of that particular Bistro that beat him by two feet on Saturday... 6th.
[Simon's Slug]		Simon Roberts and Andy Kinchin were really still preparing the boat after it dropped its mast on the maiden event two weeks previously. Too many retirements and too many snags to put together a decent series, but its certainly going to be a very competitive boat. 7th.
Green Slug		2001 Champions : what can you say? Devastating strong wind speed and a deserved winner. Robin Russell (hidden) and Will Lee
Squid pro Quo		Mike Rolf and Tom "Light" Payne demonstrated that you can sail the Squid, and at times were challenging the leading bunch. The process of sorting the boat out continues, but things are looking promising, with an excellent 5th as their best result. 11th =.
Team Scotland		Neil Cardno and Kenn Scott-Brown, the Daggerboard Kings - Their new motto "Never Say Never". After trashing not only their own daggerboard, but also Fuzzy Logic's, they returned to the racing with just half a board to finish the remaining races and counted only two retirements. Outstanding! 9th.

All photos are (c) Jim Champ, except that of Halo Jones, (c) Robin Russell