Forty one Comets sailed at the National Championships at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy over the August Bank Holiday Weekend 27th-29th August. In addition to the current National Champion and three former National Champions there were a number of helms who had not competed at a Nationals before, including Tracy Neal from Sutton Bingham SC who had never attended any other Comet event.

On the first day the competitors were greeted by a wind of nearly twenty knots. Race one was postponed for a few minutes to avoid the sailors having to launch in the middle of a squall. The race officer set a ‘Reverse P’ course, with a beat followed by two reaches separated by a gybe mark, before a final run to the leeward mark.

In race one Tristan Cooper, starting from the pin end of the line, reached the windward mark first, only to capsize. Guy Wilkins took the lead down the first reach, followed by Jonathan Latham, Eddie Pope, Paul Hinde and Steve Harvey. They successfully gybed at the wing mark and reached back towards the Committee boat ready for the run down to the leeward mark. The fleet were faced with a choice of either running by the lee to this mark, or two gybes. Most of the fleet chose the latter option. Paul capsized on the second beat, allowing Steve through. Steve also caught Jonathan and Guy to win, with Eddie also gaining places to take second.

The second race was sailed back to back immediately after the first race. After the start a squall with a large windshift came through. This favoured those on the right hand side of the beat to such an extent that they ended up overstanding the windward mark. Jon Cooper was first to the mark, followed by Michael Thompson and defending National Champion Chris Robinson. The second reach was now very broad, and with the increased wind, very wild. It was made more difficult when the leaders had to pass through the tail end of a fleet of Laser 4.7s undergoing race training. Michael and Chris passed Jon, and Chris took the lead from Michael at the wing mark with a more effective gybe. The fleet were relieved to find that the wind shift allowed the run to be sailed without a gybe or sailing by the lee. On the second lap Chris began to pull away, and Dave Harris sailed up into second place. With more capsizes further down the fleet the Race Officer, Mike Johnson, took the decision to shorten to two laps. It proved to be a wise decision, because as Chris sailed the final beat to win the race, the chasing fleet struggled with the final run. Dave was unable to bear away which let Steve Harvey through, only to capsize. Eventually Eddie Pope, followed by Phil Hossell, rounded the leeward mark and they took second and third places. They were so far behind Chris that when Chris arrived at the slipway, the shore crew of Sue Coppenhall, Sarah Austin and Liz Hossell were convinced he must have retired!

This concluded the first days racing. At this stage the race wins had gone to different sailors, but Eddie Pope, with two second places, was leading. The fleet retired to the Spinnakers Restaurant at WPNSA for a dinner to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Comet, and 25 years of the Comet Class Association.

The wind had dropped slightly for the second day of racing, and the race officer settled on two laps for each race. The start line for race three proved to be very square with no favoured end. However, the left hand side of the first beat proved to be the best, and Paul Hinde was the first to the windward mark, followed by Dave Harris and Simon Thompson. However, they began to get caught by a large pack of boats including Guy Wilkins and Stephen Lemmon, although it was Alan Bennett who came through to take the lead. On the second lap there were several changes in position, and by the start of the final beat Stephen was ahead. He, along with Paul, chose to sail up the left hand side of the course, while the chasing boats led by Eddie Pope went right. Stephen tacked back to cover, and was able to cross ahead of Eddie. He went on to win, while Eddie was second and Dave beat Paul to fourth.

In race four Jonathan Latham executed the perfect port tack pin end start, and crossed ahead of the entire fleet to the starboard side of the course. This was photographed by Henry Jaggers stationed in Andy Simmon’s motor launch stationed at the pin end of the line. His photograph showed that as the fleet crossed the line Jonathan had almost sailed out of the picture! However, unfortunately for Jonathan, the port side of the course proved to be the best side, and Alan Bennett reached the windward mark first, followed by Dave Harris and Chris Robinson. However, by the windward mark of lap two Dave and Chris had caught Alan. On the final downwind legs Alan and Chris began to close on Dave, but Alan capsized to windward on the final run. Chris just failed to get an inside overlap on Dave at the leeward mark, but caught him on the final beat to win. Further back Jonathan and Guy Wilkins sailed by the capsized Alan, to take third and fourth places.

After lunch the fleet found the wind had eased very slightly. Jonathan Latham reached the windward mark first, but had a large pack of chasing boats including Simon Thompson, John Windibank, Guy Wilkins and Stephen Lemmon, just behind him. However, he was still in the lead at the bottom mark. On the subsequent lap he was unable to pull away, but did he did stay ahead. There were numerous place changes behind, and with Jonathan maintaining his lead to the end of the race, it was Alan Bennett who took second ahead of Guy in third and Stephen in fourth.

In race six the line was evenly favoured as Stephen Lemmon and Chris Robinson, who started from different ends of the line, reached the windward mark together. Stephen took the lead on the first reach, and Eddie Pope started to catch Chris. On the second beat Chris caught Stephen, only to lose the lead again on the second set of downwind legs. Eddie was also caught on these legs by Jonathan Latham. On the final beat Chris passed Stephen again to win, while Jonathan held off Eddie to take third place.

This concluded the end of racing for day two, and the fleet retired to the Spinnaker Room for the AGM and barbeque. With six races completed, Eddie Pope and Chris Robinson were on equal points. However, Jonathan Latham was only two points behind, and Guy Wilkins and Stephen Lemmon were a further three points behind Jonathan. However, all these contenders could win the Championship as they had low positions which could be discarded if they got good results on the last day. Dave Harris could also win if he got two very good results in the last two remaining races.

The wind had dropped a little further for the start of the final day of racing. This encouraged some of the less experienced sailors, who had remained on the bank, to venture out. In race seven Dave Harris was first to the windward mark, followed by youth sailor Peter Hall and Stephen Lemmon. On the run Stephen moved into second, and on the second beat into the lead, while Guy Wilkins and Eddie Pope caught Peter. However, Peter, with Ben Palmer following, picked up a wind shift and went to the extreme right hand side of the course. This allowed Peter to retake second place, and brought Ben into the pack of chasing boats. Stephen held onto win, and Guy passed Peter to take second. Peter took third place, which was sufficient to guarantee him the Youth Champion title. Ben tied with Dave in fourth place and Eddie took sixth. Jonathan Latham and Chris Robinson sailed discards.

Stephen Lemmon’s win in race seven put him into the lead, followed by Chris Robinson, Eddie Pope, Jonathan Latham and then Guy Wilkins. There was only a four point difference between them, and depending on the last race any of them could win the Championship. Stephen needed a first or second to guarantee a win overall, but for the others even a race win would not be enough to guarantee the title, it would depend on the positions of the others.

In the final race the Championship contenders chose to start at a rather crowded Committee boat end of the line. However, the pin end was the favoured end, and Alan Bennett reached the windward mark first, followed by Paul Hinde and Steve Harvey. On the reaches and runs down to the leeward mark Chris Robinson and Guy Wilkins passed these two. On the second beat Alan went up the centre of the course, while Chris, with Guy following, went right. As they came together Chris on starboard forced Alan to tack. He then tacked away, and when they came together again Chris was ahead. However, Alan kept ahead of Guy, and there were no further changes in places in the top three. Jonathan Latham was fourth, while Stephen Lemmon and Eddie Pope both discarded the result of the final race.

Chris Robinson’s win in the final race was sufficient to give him the Championship, and Guy Wilkin’s third moved him to the runners up place despite not winning any of the races. One point behind him were three sailors on equal points. On count back Stephen Lemmon’s two race wins beat Jonathan Latham’s one race win, so Stephen was third and Jonathan fourth. Eddie Pope with no race wins was fifth.

There were eight contenders for the Ladies Champion. Only defending Champion Rhiain Bevan and Denise Weatherley completed the first two races, and this gave them the advantage of having two discards available. However, with the exception of race three, Rhiain finished ahead of Denise in the other races, and so retained the Ladies Champion title with Denise second.

Four clubs competed for the team prize, Cransley, Crawley Mariners, Littleton and Severn. Severn and Crawley Mariners had the advantage as they had ten and six competitors respectively, while Cransley and Littleton only had the minimum number of three helms. When the scores were added up there was only three points between the first two clubs. However, although Littleton had two helms in the top five, they were beaten by Severn who had Dave Harris in sixth, and then Paul Hinde and Jon Cooper in tenth and eleventh.

The first veteran outside the top six was Steve Harvey, although he was beaten by the first two Ancient Mariners, Alan Bennett and John Windibank.

The Newcomers prize was won by Nigel Miller from Winsford Flash SC.