Tempest Nationals, Oct 22 & 23

Published 15:23 on 25 Oct 2022

The Tempest National and Northern Championships were held as part of Keelboat Weekend at Ullswater Yacht Club on October 22 and 23.
The Northerns were planned for Carsington Sailing Club on October 8 & 9 but cancelled due to a lack of water. A fleet of nine Tempests were joined by two VXOnes and an SB20 for the two-day event with three races scheduled for Saturday and two for Sunday.
As forecast, the weather on Saturday brought blustery conditions from the South-west, but the predicted rain held off to bring sunshine for most of the day.
The Race Officer and Assistant, Jon Abbatt and Alison Bass laid a windward/leeward course and racing got away on time. The Tempests found the conditions challenging with shifting gusts of up to 30 knots. Jon Modral-Gibbons crewed by Colin Meadows finished first, followed by Keith Lockey & Paul Adams, with third place going to Graham Donkin & David Lyons.
Conditions remained the same throughout the day, and overnight the three boats were challenging for first place - Donkin on 6 points, Lockey and Modral-Gibbons both with 8 points.
Sunday brought lighter winds but this time from a South-east direction giving the race team a challenge to set a good windward/leeward course.
Racing started with light winds but a lot of rain, and all to play for. The first race of the day went to a very tight finish with Lockey first and Donkin second, still leading with only one point separating the first three.
The second race started with a little more breeze, Donkin pulled away with a good lead to finish the race in first place securing the win to take the overall Championships.
Final results: 1. Graham Donkin & David Lyons, UYC. 2. Keith Lockey & Paul Adams, UYC. 3. Jon Modral-Gibbons & Colin Meadows.
Picture: Jon Abbatt

Last updated 19:16 on 15 April 2024