Wolstenholme piloted his Devoti to four bullets and two seconds. The boat itself is a back-to-back UK Nationals winner, as it was used last year by Devoti owner Tim Tavinor. Devotis have now won the last three UK Nationals. Winds were generally from the south west and blew both ends of the legal Snipe scale.
In the first race sailed in an ideal 4-5 breeze, Wolstenholme led from gun to gun and had only to apply loose cover to former champion Neil Martin and Giles Herrick. Martin's Millennium Edition Persson was no match all weekend for Wolstenholme's Devoti on the upwind legs in particular. Alan Williams and Liz Crouch scored a third, beginning a series of consistent low scores.
The second race followed a similar pattern, with Wolstenholme this time leading home Iain and Richard Marshall, and with Williams again coming third. Anne and Ben Romain from the Le Havre club sailed to a well earned fourth.
On Saturday, the wind built to around 5-6 and this again suited Wolstenholme who posted a third straight win. Marshall was second and Williams took third once again. The rescue committee went into full swing with four capsizes to deal with, all coming on the running leg of the Olympic 'O' course.
In the fourth race Wolstenholme's stranglehold was at last broken as Martin took the gun. His second was however to prove good enough for overall victory. Marshall's third would set up a three way struggle for runner-up spot however.
The wind finally relented on Sunday as the fleet waited patiently for the wind to fill in. When the fifth race did eventually begin, Sue Antonelli crewed by David Cummins became locked in a tacking duel with Wolstenholme in which the lead changed hands several times. Antonelli was eventually robbed of what would have been a second place, when R.O. Derrick Crouch was forced to abandon the race as the wind swung round beyond the 20 degrees allowed by International Snipe racing rules.
Better was to come however for Sue Antonelli. When the race was eventually restarted after two general recalls, she got the better of Wolstenhome on this occasion to post a first Nationals race victory by a lady in the the event's 51 year history. Ian and Brian Gregory's upward curve continued as they added a fifth to earlier scores of 8th, 7th and 6th.
The final race ended as the first began with Wolstenholme and Phil Marshall leaving the fleet trailing in their wake to claim and emphatic ninth UK title. Martin's second was enough to squeeze Williams and Crouch out of the top three after a storming performance from Roger and Richard Barnes to take fourth, edged them out. Iain and Richard Marshall's third was a disappointment as they led round the final mark, but overall second place was ample consolation.
The event, held under the burgee of Maldon Yacht Club was superbly run and was a particular triumph for social secretary Pat White and for Stone Sailing Secretary Gavin Watkins.
Richard Lambert
Pos Helm/Crew No Club R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Pts
1 P Wolstenholme/ GBR 29611 WSC 1 1 1 (2) 2 1
5
P Marshall MYC
2 I Marshall/ GBR 29501 MYC (4) 2 2 3 3 3 13
R Marshall MYC
3 N Martin/ GBR 29676 BuSC 2 (18) 8 1 4 2 16.75
G Herrick BuSC
4 A Williams/ GBR 29164 BuSC 3 3 3 4 (13) 5 18
E Crouch BCSC
5 S Antonelli/ GBR 27106 LSC 6 (11) 6 5 1 6 23.75
D Cummins LSC
6 I Gregory/ GBR 28451 BCSC (22ocs) 8 7 6 5 7 33
B Gregory BCSC
7 M Antonelli/ GBR 29677 BuSC 9 7 5 8 10 (21dns) 39
S Sporne
8 W Gurz/ Not Registered Seefeld 12 6 (13) 7 9 11 45
F Gurz (Germany) Club
9 B Foulds/ GBR 29408 MYC 8 10 (15) 11 7 9 45
R Foulds MYC
10 R Lambert/ GBR 23980 BCSC 5 5 20dnf (21dns) 8 8 46
N Lambert BCSC
11 G Edwards/ GBR 26671 BuSC (13) 9 9 10 6 13 47
G Edwards BuSC
12 A Romain/ FRA 29437 Le 10 4 4 18dnf (18) 12 48
B Romain Havre
13 J Love/ GBR 27098 BuSC 7 (20) 10 12 11 10 50
H Smallman BuSC
14 I Knight/ GBR 15602 MYC 11 12 11 (21dns) 12 14 60
B Knight MYC
15 R Barnes/ GBR 29411 BuSC 14 17 20dnf 9 (20) 4 64
R Barnes BuSC
16 J White/ GBR 28385 BSC 15 16 12 14 16 (19) 73
R Taylor MYC
17 G Mees/ GBR 28384 EYC (21dns) 13 14 16 14 16 73 F Wolstenholme/S
Mees EYC
18 A Rossi/ FRA 29420 Le (18) 14 16 13 17 15 75
M-H Rossi Havre
19 R Antonelli/ GBR 20323 BuSC 17 15 17 15 (19) 18 82
N Westbrook BCSC
20 P Wibroe/ GBR 28276 BCSC 16 21dns 21dns (21dns) 15 17 90
A Wibroe BCSC
21 P Grundy/ GBR 19328 MYC 19 19 18 17 (21) 20 93
R Eves MYC