The Welsh Soling championship 2004

Barry Yacht Club

  The inaugural Welsh Soling Championship was held over the weekend of 10/11th July at Barry Yacht Club. Eight boats arrived on the start line for what turned out to be some close and competitive racing.

 With 18-20kts of winds from the South West and a slight chop saw the boats that had the better crew work rewarded with the best results. With four of the boats having competed at the National two weeks previously there were some scores to be settled. Team Solaris GBR 161 showed they meant business by taking the first race from Marshalla Maggs GBR 5 and Jackpot GBR 100. Musketeer GBR 126 snapped their tiller on the second beat and had to retire from the race, and headed to shore for repairs.

 The Second race was again taken by Solaris with Mr Crusty GBR 164 holding second place for the first two laps only to let Marshalla Maggs slip through on the last leg to take second. The third race saw Marshalla Maggs taking the win with Solaris dropping to second and Jackpot taking third. After a good show in the Southern championships and the Nationals, Team Seven GBR 131 was struggling to stay on pace with new crew.

 Race four was again taken by Solaris followed by Marshalla Maggs and Mr Crusty with Seven taking fourth. This left Solaris in first place with 4.25 points, Marshalla Maggs in second with 6.75 and Mr Crusty and Jackpot in joint third on 15 points.

 The Second day saw the wind from the North West and slightly weaker at 15kts and a flat sea. Solaris again took the lead off the line with Marshalla Maggs back in third off the line. But with a good second run Marshalla Maggs managed to get back up to second place and keep the race for first place open, with Seven taking third and Jackpot beating Mr crusty for fourth place.

 The Second race had Marshalla Maggs covering Solaris in the pre-start, this left Solaris back in fourth on after the first lap and Marshalla Maggs looking good in first but by the finish Solaris had pulled back a place to take third with Marshalla Maggs winning the race and Jackpot in second. This left Solaris on 8 points and Marshalla Maggs on 8.75, even a win in the last race could not move Solaris off the top spot. Third place was still for the taking with Mr Crusty on 25 and Jackpot on 21.

 The final race started with Solaris and Marshalla Maggs match racing before the start, this left Mr Crusty to lead around the first lap from Seven and Jackpot. With Jackpot just needing to hold on to Mr Crusty they were looking good for third. On the second lap Marshalla Maggs staged the comeback of the regatta to challenge Mr Crusty who took the gun by half a boat length, with Seven in third. Jackpot was holding on to fourth but was beaten to the line by Solaris. This in turn gave third place overall to Mr Crusty by a ¼ of a point.

Solaris therefore became  the overall winner, with Marshalla Maggs taking second, and the first Welsh Soling, Mr Crusty in third and Jackpot taking The First Mature Soling trophies for Solings over 20 years old. 

 Report By

Hugh (Spud) Davies.

GBR 5 Marshalla Maggs

2004 Welsh Soling Championship Barry Yacht Club
Position Name Crew Boat Name Sail No. R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 DSC Total Points
1st H.Loudon Fountain/Brammer Solaris GBR 161 0.75 0.75 2 0.75 0.75 3 4 4 8
2nd H.Davies Bowmer/Williams Marshalla Maggs GBR 5 2 2 0.75 2 2 0.75 2 2 9.5
3rd D.Priestley Parkinson/Wharton Mr Crusty GBR 164 4 3 5 3 5 5 0.75 5 20.75
4th D.Brooks Brooks/Brown Jackpot GBR 100 3 4 3 5 4 2 5 5 21
5th M.Fisher Britton/Quigley Seven GBR 131 5 5 4 4 3 4 3 5 23
6th H.Lavis Batten/Spierling Madcap GBR 152 6 RTD DNS 6 6 6 6 DNS 39
7th D.Jenkins Jones/Merryfield Musketeer GBR 126 RTD DNS 6 7 DNS 7 7 DNS 45
8th G.Howe Howe/Gadd Billy Bud 2 GBR 80 7 6 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 49

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