National 18 UK and Ireland Championships at Royal Findhorn Yacht Club
by Colin Chapman 13 Aug 20:20 NZST
4-8 August 2024
National 18 UK and Ireland Championships at Royal Findhorn © Iona Cornish
The National 18 fleet descended on the village of Findhorn in Scotland for their eagerly awaited class championships this August. Findhorn is a beautiful place with hospitality and a social calendar to match, everything was in place for a fantastic N18 week at the Royal Findhorn Yacht Club.
With a twelve race series planned over five days all eyes were on the forecast to see if the weather would comply. Racing kicked off on Sunday 4th with two romping races which saw Aquabatics (Chapman, O'Keeffe, Lane) and Peaky Blinders (Walsh, Brownlow, Rice) both from the Royal Cork YC land the bullets with Kokomo (Henderson-White, Newman Brightlingsea SC), Two and a Half Men (Urquhart's, Goodman, RFYC) and the rest of the fleet in hot pursuit.
Sunday evening was the opening ceremony with a traditional Scottish pipe band followed by the usual N18 revelry.
Monday racing was a different story with stronger SE winds presenting very shifty and gusty conditions for the three scheduled races. Race three saw a very strong gust capsize several boats. Conditions moderated as the day progressed with the race wins taken by Puss 'n Boot (O'Donovan, Lester, O'Boyle. RCYC) and two for Peaky Blinders establishing Peaky as the championship leaders. The win for Puss 'n Boot was a popular one and a maiden victory for the team.
A raucous Monday evening session of "Gladiators" saw contenders doing battle for the prize, Mary Henderson-White ultimately prevailing.
Tuesday brought more great sailing conditions, Kokomo and Peaky Blinders shared the wins establishing them as the main contenders for the title with Two and a Half Men chasing in third place.
With an adverse forecast for Wednesday an attempt was made to slot in a third race but this was ultimately unsuccessful and the fleet headed home for the class dinner and traditional ceilidh keeping us all well entertained.
True to predictions Wednesdays racing was cancelled for the day leaving everyone with a day off to explore the local area but under strict instructions to return to the RFYC by 18:30 for Burns Night...
That left racing on Thurs to attempt to fit in three races to enable the second discard. Peaky Blinders had a strong lead built but it was still all to play for with Kokomo's worst result so far in the champs being a third place.
Aquabatics landed the first race win of the day but behind them Peaky Blinders was again scoring strongly to edge closer to the title. As the wind died and became much more unpredictable the final two races were challenging. Peaky Blinders took a second place in race 9 ultimately sealing the title with a race to spare however it was the day of the English with The Shadow (Berney's, Saints, Blackwater Sailing Club) and Optimus Prime (Jones, Yargici, Valentine, Tamesis) taking the two remaining race wins, both maiden victories for these teams.
A very strong day for The Shadow (2, 1, 3) was good enough to promote them to third overall in the championships and a very delighted team threatening to buy a new boat.
So overall, congratulations to the Peaky Blinders team of Nick, Rob and Eddie from the RCYC taking the 2024 championships with a very strong performance over the week. Second place went to Kokomo, Rupert, Mary and Ollie with The Shadow, Jess, Jordan and Hugo picking up third place. Fourth went to Two and a Half Men, Stuart, Richard and Tom from the host club.
Overall it was great to see five different race winners over the series, three of them being maiden victories for those teams demonstrating the strength in depth across the class. The final night of entertainment lived up to usual expectations with much singing and entertainment capping off what was a magnificent event and a badly needed reunion of the class and our friends in Findhorn.
Many thanks to the RFYC and all the people that made a great event happen. A special thanks to the sponsors Speyside Brewery, Pinnell & Bax, and Frasers Auctioneers.
2025 will be hosted by Brightlingsea SC in the town where our boats are built by White Formula Ltd. Joining forces with the N12s for the regatta is an exciting development and we hope to see a large travelling fleet supporting the event.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | Peaky Blinders | 428 | N Walsh | R Brownlow, E Rice | RCYC | 2 | 1 | ‑5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ‑5 | 15 |
| 2nd | Kokomo | 429 | R Henderson | M Henderson-White, O Newman | B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑6 | 6 | ‑9 | 22 |
| 3rd | The Shadow | 412 | J Berney William | H Berney, J Saints | BSC | ‑5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | ‑6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 27 |
| 4th | Two & A Half Men | 420 | S Urquhart | R Urquhart, T Goodman | RFYC | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | ‑8 | ‑6 | 27 |
| 5th | Aquabatic | 431 | C Chapman | E O'Keeffe, D Lane | RCYC | 1 | 3 | (DNF) | (DNC) | DNC | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 34 |
| 6th | Ace | 424 | O Houseman | J Vines, S Watton | CVLSC | ‑9 | 6 | ‑7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 39 |
| 7th | Optimuns Prime | 421 | M Jones | K Yargici, M Valentine | TC | 7 | ‑10 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | ‑9 | 1 | 51 |
| 8th | Ball n' Chain | 426 | D O'Connell | A Coole, L Tassie | MBSC RCYC | 8 | 7 | (RET) | 5 | 7 | ‑10 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 55 |
| 9th | Puss n Boot | 402 | P O'Donovan | R Lester, F O'Boyle | RCYC | 6 | 8 | 1 | (DNF) | (DNC) | 6 | 7 | 10 | 10 | RET | 59 |
| 10th | Highland Fling | 413 | K Davidson | C Laurie, S Laurie | RFYC | 10 | 9 | (DNC) | (DNC) | DNC | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 68 |