2010 First 40.7 National Championships

Page last updated:

25 June 2010

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2010 First 40.7 National Championship

The 2010 40.7 Nationals saw the prospect of the top  40.7s in the UK racing against each to see who would claim the coveted UK National Championship  trophy. The event, hosted for the third year by the Royal Southern Yacht Club and organised by the UK 40.7 Class Association, overlapped with a Commodores cup qualifier which sadly took Encore (2009 Rolex Fastnet 1^st 40.7) and Tradition Philosophie (5^th in Class, Cowes Week 2009) out of the running as they opted for the IRC1 start instead of the 40.7 start.   The strong fleet featured Portia (Warsah Spring Series IRC2 winner 2010), Playing Around (previous National Championship winner) and Incognito (1^st , Cowes 2009).

Day 1 started out with cloudless skies and the potential of a long postponement waiting for the sea breeze, but eventually the established easterly held out all day at between 8-14kts. Race 1 was a short one hour sprint round the cans to warm the crews up and Paul Jenkins and his crew on Addiction were fastest out of the blocks followed in 2^nd and 3^rd by Peter Robson’s Playing Around and Paul McNamara’s & Tony Lowe’s Incognito.

Race 2, this time a longer “round the cans” race saw some important tactical decisions being taken by crews on breeze versus tide. The central Solent paid off and at the first mark the fleet was well split. This time it was Andrew Iyer on Portia that took the lead chasing off the pack downwind. Stuart Wilkie on Interceptor made an impressive chase on the final downwind mark but in the end it was Incognito and Portia in 1^st and 2^nd with Playing Around 3^rd.

Following the first day Incognito, Addiction and Playing Around were in the top 3 positions, with Tarka, Interceptor and Portia all within a few points, so the series still remaining very open to the top 6 boats.

Day 2 greeted competitors with more of the same, a cloudless sky and the prospect of some ver light sailing, but the easterly held on and the race officer got the fleet away promptly in around 7kts of breeze. Important decisions again on where the breeze was came into play and in a close fleet boat handling was critical. One obstacle for navigators in race 3 was the prospect of the Bramble Bank (on a falling tide) being part of the race course. Early leader Addiction’s race came to an abrupt end when she misjudged the bank and sadly her regatta came to an end as she sat out race 4 waiting for a rising tide to float her off the bank. Addiction’s mistake saw Portia, Incognito and Playing Around fighting for a close 1, 2, 3 finish, closely followed by Tarka and Interceptor.

With the final race of the championship it was still an open field for the championship with only a few points separating the top 5 boats.  The race officer set another 1 hour sprint which resulting in some fantastic close racing. At the last top mark the fleet leaders were only separated by seconds but an impressive final downwind leg saw Incognito pull out ahead of the pack to secure  1^st followed by Playing Around, Portia and Guy Prest in Tarka taking 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th .

The result of two days close racing saw Incognito claiming victory as the 2010 40.7 National Champion with Playing Around in 2^nd and Portia in 3^rd.

A great two days racing was had by all with thanks to the Royal Southern for organising a faultless regatta.   This years Nationals event showed again that the 40.7 remains a hugely competitive and fun boat to sail, giving very close racing amongst a very well matched fleet. The 2010 season ahead is undoubtedly going to be close affair....

The final results were: