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Hamble River Open Report

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The 2008 Hamble River SC Firefly Open Meeting was held over the weekend of June 7/8. Race Officer Rob Lamb and his team managed to fit in all six scheduled races in an exceptionally crowded Southampton Water despite light winds and raging spring tides.

The event attracted an excellent 28 entries, including visitors from as far west as Restronguet in Cornwall and as far east as Felixstowe in Suffolk. Sailors from four ‘Royal’ clubs, Harwich, Thames, Lymington and the Southern, also competed.

Five times National Firefly Champion Stuart Hudson, sailing with wife Jane, took home the top prize with an impressive scoreline of four firsts, a third and a fourth. Stuart and Jane didn’t have it all their own way with Ian Sanderson/Sally Wilson and Tom Hebbert/Jo Bailey also taking individual race wins. Ian and Sally were placed second overall with local Hamble boat Barney Smith/Alannah Witherby counting a consistent scoreline to finish third overall.

Close racing was in evidence throughout the fleet all weekend with a battle royale for top Hamble Youth Crew being narrowly won by Dan Cousins (8th overall with Guy Davidson) from Callum Weston (9th overall with Jonty Sherwill) and Annie Shawcroft (12th overall with Peter Slimming).

Over 30 volunteers from Hamble River SC (the club’s total membership is less than 300) helped run the event, assisting with a range of tasks including safety cover, mark laying, bar and galley duty. The catering team fed nearly 80 people during Saturday‘s BBQ which was held on the club balcony during the warmest night of the year to date.

In 2009 Hamble River will host the Firefly Nationals from 15-21 August. The club will also host its traditional open meeting during June or July.

The next event on the 2008 Firefly Open Calendar will be held at Royal Harwich Yacht Club on the 21/22 June. The 2008 Nationals is being held at Royal Torbay Yacht Club from the 2-8 August.

Overall Results:

Pos Sail No Helm Crew Club R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Pts
1 3850 Stuart Hudson Jane Hudson Weston 1 1 3 1 1 4 7
2 3841 Ian Sanderson Sally Wilson Royal Lymington 3 2 2 2 2 1 9
3 3023 Barnaby Smith Alannah Witherby Hamble River 4 6 4 3 6 2 19
4 3414 Andrew Palmer-Felgate Liz Palmer-Felgate Burghfield 7 4 7 29 3 3 24
5 3607 Tom Hebbert Jo Bailey Royal Thames 2 10 1 5 29 8 26
6 3690 Rosie Davey Roger Hudson Royal Harwich 6 7 5 4 11 6 28
7 626 Christian Guy Jonquil Brookes Parkstone 5 5 14 6 7 5 28
8 2539 Guy Davidson Dan Cousins Llangorse 11 9 8 9 4 12 41
9 36941 Jonty Sherwill Callum Weston Hamble River 12 13 13 7 5 10 47
10 3739 Lucy Boreham Rachel Crebbin Dell Quay 8 11 15 8 8 13 48
11 2065 Richard Thompson Charlotte McGarry Deben 10 3 11 12 13 29 49
12 1811 Peter Slimming Annie Shawcroft Hamble River 17 15 9 11 10 7 52
13 2777 Susan Steyn Frances Davidson Llangorse 9 12 6 29 12 14 53
14 3692 James Fryatt Sam Burns Hamble River 16 14 20 10 16 9 65
15 3610 Luke Thompson Tom Cousins Felixstowe Ferry 13 16 12 16 21 11 68
16 2550 Hermione Turner Jo Mason Itchenor 14 23 16 19 9 15 73
17 1701 Patrick Clarke Alex Clarke Restronguet 15 8 18 17 29 29 87
18 3711 Phillipa Wilkinson Rhiannon Flack Hamble River 22 20 10 22 17 20 89
19 3693 Robert Dann Chelsey Watson Hamble River 24 21 22 13 14 29 94
20 302X Simon Cowdell Sophia Hulbert Castaways 18 18 19 21 24 18 94
21 3694 Thomas Shawcroft Hannah Kitcher Hamble River 21 19 21 24 18 17 96
22 3626 Alec Russell Emma Russell Royal Southern 19 22 17 18 22 29 98
23 3749 Fiona Jones Vicky Weston Hamble River 29 29 29 15 20 16 109
24 252 Ruth Romer Jenny Leon Birmingham Old Boys 23 24 29 20 23 21 111
25 3072 Damian Boreham Tom Johnson Spinnaker 29 29 29 14 15 29 116
26 1446 Andrew Flack Rob Flack Hamble River 20 17 23 29 29 29 118
27 983 Phil Knight-Jones Chris Knight-Jones Warsash 29 29 29 25 25 19 127
28 180 James Hayden Katie Bowers Birmingham Old Boys 29 29 29 23 19 29 129