With a powerful rig and a lead-bulb keel allowing centre seating for the crew it was demanding but safe for sailors with disabilities, plus - post-Paralympics - anyone else with skill but less agility. Rutland SKUDs have gathered seven of the 80-plus boats made and the Group is flourishing within the Club racing fleet, so they decided to run a SKUD "World Championships-Northern-Hemisphere-Version" for anyone capable of flying a big Asymmetric Spinnaker.
On the first weekend of August, Six crews prepared to race. Their previous mounts included; Foiling Moth, 49er, Round-the-World Racer, SB3 and a variety of dinghies...
Oh yes, and a variety of wheelchairs, crutches and buggies !
Day one Saturday, involved three races in the beautiful South Arm of Rutland Water on a one-mile windward-leeward course.
The wind was lighter and from the South on Sunday so racing started near Normanton church, with the fleet tightly bunched. Local Yachties Verdino and Pollard showed their expertise by leading but the Swans were airborne and outpacing the rest. Second were last year's Champion Christine Spray crewed by ex-circumnavigator Kirsten Pollock, having a good regatta despite the weed !
The final race had variable winds, lots of place changing and highly tactical runs with lots of gybes. Vickers and Johnson made the best calls to win by a whisker from the Swans, closely followed by the girls. A great end to some very close racing !
Overall Results:
Pos Sail No Helm Crew R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Pts
1st 11 Lynn Swan Stuart Swan ‑4 1 3 1 1 2 8
2nd 42 John Vickers Richard Johnson 2 3 1 3 ‑5 1 10
3rd 57 Christine Spray Kirsten Pollock 3 5 ‑6 2 3 3 16
4th 77 Paul Pearson Neville Rose 1 4 ‑5 5 2 5 17
5th 10 Nick Verdino Peter Pollard ‑6 2 4 4 4 6 20
6th 34 Richard Sant Evan Williams ‑6 6 2 6 6 4 24
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