1997 Snipe UK Nationals

Thirty-two International Snipes entered the British National
Championship at Broadstairs Sailing Club over 25-27 July.  The
twenty-one entries were joined by five from Belgium and six from
France.

Conventional Olympic triangular courses were set and in a decent
breeze Mark and Suer Antonelli got a flying start in the first
race.  They headed for the right corner of the first beat and were
swept to the windward mark by lee-bowing the tide.  Gradually,
reigning National champions Peter Wolstenholme and Alan Williams
reeled them in and overtook on the final run.  Herman Van Dormael
and Caroline Miller of Belgium crept up to second as the Antonellis
slipped back to third.

The wind decreased for the second race making tactical awareness
paramount and Wolstenholme again displayed tenacity and skill to
recover from mid-fleet to win.  Van Dormael was again second,
Janssens and Verminp of Belgium were third and Tim and Kay Tavinor,
sailing their own Devoti Snipe were fourth.

On Saturday, the wind steadily increased to over 20 knots forcing
many retirements.  In the third race which was sailed over a
triangular course to eliminate the running leg, Wolstenholme
suffered the rare indignity of being overtaken by the brilliant
French teenagers Denaol Blayo and Tanguay Leglatin.  Janssens was
again third while the Tavinors worked their way up to fourth.

The fourth race got underway in a strong breeze although the race
committee reverted to course flag 'O'.  The wind significantly
increased during the race however and many did not risk the final
running leg and retired.  Wolstenholme posted his third victory in
front of Blayo with Janssens third and the Tavinors again fourth.

On sunday, the wind finally relented and both races were sailed in
a moderate force 2-3.  Guy Celis and Dina De Bock won the fifth
race for Belgium, Janssens was second and Blayo was third.  The
Tavinors gained their fourth consecutive fourth place.
Wolstenholme's seventh left three crews with a chance of overall
victory.

In the final race, course setting had become extremely difficult as
the strong tide and wind direction almost negated the need for a
tack on the first leg.  Celis won again, Van Dormael was second and
Janssens third made it a Belgium 1-2-3.  Wolstenholme's fifth was
enough to secure a record seventh National title and Williams has
now won eleven Snipe Nationals as a crew.

The race organisers at Broadstairs Sailing Club ran a magnificent
Championship which was a credit to Fleet Captain Keith Harding and
his team.

Overall results:

   Number   Crew            R1    R2    R3  R4    R5   R6   Pts
1  GBR26671 P Wolstenholme  .75   .75   2   .75   7    5    9.25
	    A Williams		

2  BEL28362 B Janssens      10    3     3    3    2    3    14.00
            H Verminp		
 
3  FRA26082 D Blayo         6     16    .75  2    3    4    15.75
            T Leglatin
 
4  BEL28544 G Celis         5     5     5    5    .75  .75  16.50
            Dina De Bock
 
5  BEL24702 H Van Dormael   2     2     11   6    6    2    18.00
            C Miller
 
6  GBR29163 T Tavinor       8     4     4    4    4    12   24.00
            K Tavinor
 
7  BEL28156 J-M Grisar      4     6     6    9    10   6    31.00
            Dirk De Bock
 
8  GBR20323 M Antonelli     3     12    20   13   9    8    45.00
            S Antonelli
 
9  GBR29303 K Butler        14    33    7    7    11   13   52.00
            J Butler
 
10 BEL27141 T den Hartigh   20    7     13   8    17   9    54.00
            G Jansen
 
11 GBR28451 R Lambert       13    9     19   30   8    7    56.00
            N Lambert
 
12 FRA29004 A Romain        12    11    10   16   19   11   60.00
            T Urgnhes
 
13 GBR20641 B Gregory       7     13    17   30   18   17   72.00
            I Gregory
 
14 GBR28385 P Biddulph      16    14    9    30   14   19   72.00
            N Lett
	
15 GBR20264 G Lewis         9     10    8    12   16   33   72.00
            M Thorpe	
 
16 FRA29005 J Romain        18    21    16   15   5    21   75.00
            M Romain
 
17 GBR20558 I Marshall      31    8     25   10   21   14   78.00
            R Marshall
 
18 FRA20636 Y Fretigny      15    20    15   30   13   16   79.00
            S Bruzag
 
19 FRA28465 M Romain        17    24    12   11   20   23   83.00
            B Broudic
 
20 FRA28450 S Bariou        25    19    21   14   24   20   98.00
            N Labasque
 
21 GBR28398 C Surridge      33    18    18   30   15   18   99.00
            S Surridge
 
22 GBR27098 J Love          31    33    14   30   12   15   102.00
            D Love
 
23 GBR27871 J Simpson       11    17    22   30   23   31   103.00
            I Sinclair
 
24 GBR21909 J Harding       19    22    23   30   25   24   113.00
            I Harding
 
25 GBR23199 I Stephen       24    15    30   30   31   26   125.00
            B Kite
 
26 GBR24152 H Sadzik        21    30    33   30   22   22   125.00
            H Sadkik (Sr)
 
27 GBR19893 S Ashby         22    23    24   30   29   28   126.00
            D Handley
 
28 GBR27001 K Harding       26    25    29   30   28   25   133.00
            I Stewart
 
29 GBR10070 G Campbell      23    30    27   30   30   29   139.00
            J Desmond
 
30 GBR19084 G Watkins       27    30    28   33   27   27   139.00
            D Butterfield
 
31 GBR24776 A Paine         31    33    26   33   26   33   149.00
            A Pegden
 
32 GBR20255 N McGonigle     33    33    33   33   33   33   165.00


Harding Cup for 1st Junior Helm:      D Blayo - France
First Lady Helm Trophy:               A Romain - France
Broadstairs Shield for 1st BSC boat:  J & I Harding

Report by Richard Lambert
            S Welch

This is from memory and I can only recall about the first dozen:

		Hull		Mast		Sails

1  Wolstenholme	McLaughlin	Sidewinder	Sobstad SD
   Williams					(mylar jib)
 
2  Janssens	Persson		Proctor		North
   Verminp					(mylar jib)
 
3  Blayo	Skipper		Sidewinder	Ullman
   Leglatin
 
4  Celis	Persson		Proctor		North
   De Bock   					(mylar jib)
 
5  Van Dormael	Persson		Sidewinder	Ullman
   Miller
 
6  Tavinor	Devoti		Holt-Allen	Ullman Italy
   Tavinor   			(Devoti spec)	(Mylar main)
 
7  Grisar	Persson		Proctor		Hood Espania
   De Bock
 
8  Antonelli	Skipper		Holt-Allen	Jack Holt
   Antonelli   			
 
9  Butler	Devoti		Sidewinder	Longton & Gray
   Butler
 
10 Den Hartigh  Wooden		Sidewinder	North
   Jansen
 
11 Lambert	Persson		Proctor		Sobstad SD
   Lambert
 
12 A Romain	Persson		Sidewinder	North
   Urgnhes         				(mylar jib)