Mumbles Yacht Club hosted the 2009 F16 National Championships for the third time in succession following the tried and tested format of three races per day over three days. Unfortunately,due to the financial crisis, the number of entries has decreased from 12 in 2006 to only 5 in 2009. Those who didn’t participate this year really missed out on some great racing conditions. Over the three days whilst racing the wind never dropped below 8 knots and some of the stronger winds were reaching 16 knots. The sea state although a little choppy by Mumbles standards leveled off as the event went on to what can only be described as near purr…fect Cat conditions.

Due to the windy conditions on the practice Race day none of the F16’s ventured out but were happy to take their time rigging, chatting and checking out their opponents settings and system set ups. It soon became obvious that each boat was very individual from the other despite 4 of them being produced by Stealth Marine and the other a VWM Blade. Each competitor appeared happy with their way of doing things even if there were some very large differences in spreader deflection, diamond tensions and in particular mast rake and rig tension. The 5 competitors were: Eric Noyau, John Terry, Mark Pressdee, Paul Warren and Wayne Richards. So all one-up sailors at this event.

9 races were held in total. On day 1 we held 3 races.

The first race started with a 10-12 knots South Westerly wind with a small ground swell and incoming tide from the South. The line was set with a slight starboard bias so everyone apart from Mark Pressdee started on starboard and went up the left side of the course. Paul Warren led at the windward mark followed by John, Mark, Wayne and Eric. Downwind there wasn’t much between us, all of us went to the right hand side of the course. Paul and Mark gybed together closely followed by John. The next and subsequent beats Mark went up the left side, pulling out a comfortable 200m lead. By the end of the third lap John was starting to claw his way back to the extent that Mark only managed to beat him by 2 boat lengths.

The second race started and the swell had decreased slightly but the wind had increased to 15-18 knots. The wind direction and course hadn’t changed. Everyone took off on starboard, John slightly lower than Mark and Paul slightly higher, Wayne and Eric higher again. The tack back to the windward mark was a pure drag race as we were definitely not beating but close hauled reaching. This high speed reach was too much for a previous (permanent) repair to Mark’s tiller bar and it became detached from the rudder. With Mark out and Wayne onshore replacing a broken spi halyard this left John leading, Paul second and Eric third.
 
By the start of the third race and by all accounts the wind had picked up again! John got the better of Paul who went for a swim during a spi douse and Wayne’s persistence was rewarded with a 2nd place. Eric had a problem with his spi as well and retired.

Day two and again excellent conditions. The wind had veered more Westerly but the tide and what little waves there were, were coming from the South. Mark took a port start at the pin and cleared the others by a comfortable margin. 4 laps later and Mark finished with approximately the same lead as he started with. Paul was 2nd, John 3rd, Eric 4th and Wayne 5th.

The wind direction backed southerly and increased up to 16-18 knots for the 5th race, there was a slight delay as the course was re-figured. This time it was John’s turn to start on port, which he did and passed everyone. Paul and Mark headed off to the left but Paul had now found the accelerator and was sailing lower and faster. Mark thought it better to tack on to port first but Paul had found the pace to keep him out of trouble and led around the windward mark, followed by John, Mark, Wayne and Eric. Paul continued to sail fast building a nice lead by the time the race was completed. Paul deservedly got his first Bullet, followed by Mark, John, Wayne & Eric.

For the sixth race it looked as if the wind was veering Westerly again but just a few seconds before the A.P was raised it backed and we went straight into the starting sequence. We all started on starboard heading for the left corner and again Paul was setting the pace. Eric and Wayne tacked off early to compete in their own little battle. Paul got first at the upwind mark, and kept it that way till the end of this race. Now Paul, John and Mark all had two bullets each, the only downside was that Paul had finished this event and was going abroad the following day so no more racing for him.

Day three, South Westerly winds starting at 8-9 knots going up to 14-15 knots with just ripples on the water and sunshine. Mark knew that all he had to do was to get in front of John and cover him for the rest of the races to be in with a chance of wining. At the first start Mark sat in the middle of the line and watched to see where John was going. Within the last 30secs prior to the start John and Mark were trying to out manoeuvre each other but in the end they both managed a clean start. After that excitement the race settled down and Mark just kept in front of John building a slightly bigger lead with every lap. John was 2nd followed by Wayne and Eric.
 
Race 8 and we all started on starboard. Mark was lowest with John and Wayne above me. As much as Mark tried he couldn’t get enough distance ahead to tack on to port and clear them, so in the end he let out the main and slowed down so he could tack and duck their transoms. As it happens the closer he was getting to the mark the more he was being lifted. Luckily, he completed a steady tack, got on the wire and powered up for the mark knowing full well that John and Wayne had to do something pretty special to get in front. As it happens they both tried something pretty special, cutting across on port. Mark narrowly avoided John by bearing away from a projected impact at his rear beam he just managed to raise hid hull over his transom, then a quick jerk of the tiller and he went to windward of Wayne who was just commencing a tack. From then on the race carried on but for one small incident. Mark managed to sail over a spi sheet during a douse. John was also very close behind and he did get in front but not by much so Mark was able to overtake him on the run and take another bullet.

The last race was much like the previous race but we managed to keep out of each others way. The highlight for both Wayne and Mark was rather unsporting but it consisted of a huge sigh of relief from me and a big grin from Wayne as John had a funny moment with his tiller extension whilst in 2nd place on the second lap and went for a swim. Mark had three bullets in three races, Wayne had a 2nd place and didn’t go swimming so he was happy and in fact everybody was happy with their performances and the Regatta in general.

Final positions
1st Mark Pressdee 15pts
2nd JohnTerry 17pts
3rd Paul Warren 27pts
4th Wayne Richards 30pts
5th Eric Noyau 38pts