Overall traveler series 2005

The 2005 series winner is Phil Neal- congratulations Phil. You will see that Phil and Olly were equal on points, with Phil winning on discard. Let's get more boats out next year- please send suggestions for 2006 events to the webmaster.

Weston SC Cat Open

The terrible weather forecast put off most travelers and all Shadows, not helped by the home club Shadow sailor being in Aruba sailing a Tornado (tough job......). We will try again next year! Alex and Marcelle did record a decent speed of 25 Knots on their Spitfire on the Saturday (see Y&Y "Speed Freaks" competition) before the racing all got cancelled.

Grafham Water Cat Open

The traditional late season Grafham Cat Open was held over the weekend of 15th/ 16th October, with 3 Shadows sailing in the single handed cat fleet with A-Classes, Inter 17s and Unicorns. The plan next year is for a single handed cat championships, with hopefully even the FX-1s and Stealth's joining in too!

The Shadows suffered a major setback in race 2, when two of them crashed into each other! Given the speed and force of the crash, the way the Kevlar construction limited the damage and kept the hulls in one piece with the rigs still up was quite amazing.

Olly Harris was left to do battle and had some great close racing with the Inter 17s, whilst keeping the A- Classes in his sights. Best result was a 2nd, and 4th Overall behind the 3 very up to date and expensive all carbon A- Classes. They are definitely beatable on a Shadow- unfinished business for 2006!

Shadow UK Open Championship 2005

The inaugural Shadow UK Open Championship took place at Stokes Bay on September 10th-11th with a fleet of 8 Shadows including the boat's designer Yves Loday.

After a wait for the wind on Saturday, Race one saw Tim Swinburn, Olly Harris, David Brief and Phil Neal changing places on the first lap in the light wind. Yves soon caught up and it became a very close race to the finish between Yves, Tim and Olly, with Yves winning and Olly passing Tim yards before the finish.

Sunday provided tricky conditions with a strong easterly tide and offshore breeze. In race two, Olly tacked off at the start to go right, a strategy that paid off. Yves and Tim chased hard all through the race, especially downwind with the final order Olly, Yves then Tim.

In race three, Paul Jury started to work out how to make a Shadow go, got a good start and stayed up with Yves and Tim for the whole race. Right behind, Olly and Phil Neal were having a very close race, as were David Brief and Jacques Devaux. At the final Leeward mark, Paul passed Tim to take second place. Race four saw a similar pattern with the closest racing so far and the finishing order Yves, Paul, Tim.

Three firsts and a second meant that the UK Open Championship went to Yves with Olly second, Paul third and Tim fourth. Reg White kindly donated a perpetual trophy for the event.

It was a great first Championship for the class and with the numbers growing well on both sides of the Channel, we can look forward to bigger Shadow fleets in the future.

Rutland Water TT - 14/15 May 2005

The first event of the circuit had a great turn out with seven Shadows ready to compete but unfortunately the weather gods were against us! Saturday was too windy for most and Sunday abandoned because it was too light. In the end, only Tim Swinburne and Phil Neal braved the elements in the final race on Saturday managing to dodge the pitch-poling Hobie 16s and Spitfires to complete the race.   

The weekend was not entirely wasted. Tim and Reg did a session on tuning and kite techniques that we all found very valuable.  It made a huge difference to be shown on land the best technique for dropping the kite or the effect of letting off six inches of halyard on the kite for sailing tighter angles.  Everyone took something away from the session but we all felt frustrated that the conditions did not allow us the chance to put it into practice! Thanks to Tim and Reg.

It was by no means a wasted weekend. The Shadow now really feels like a class, with people sharing their enthusiasm for this terrific boat. AND another Rutland sailor bought a Shadow!!

The next TT event is the Piers Race on July 16/17 and it would be great to get another seven boats on the line (or more!)

East Coast Piers Race - 16/17th July

The East Cost Piers Race weekend lived up to it's reputation with hot weather and great sailing. The three Shadows of Phil Heal, Olly Harris and David Brief had some good results, with Olly Harris 2nd in the first race on Saturday and Phil 4th. A capsize in the second race meant that Olly claimed 2nd overall for the Saturday series, with Phil 5th and David 11th.

The Colne Point race got off to a very slow start, with Phil and Olly spending a long time going the wrong way, trying just to get to the start line!. The drift down the estuary meant that when the race started for real at Bradwell, the slower Catapults and Dart 15s effectively had a big advantage and that the faster Shadows and Stealths had a lot to do to pull out the required lead. We had some fantastic sailing, especially the trapeze spinnaker reach back to Bradwell, then the downwind leg to the finish.

When the wind arrived, Phil Neal pulled out a lead that he managed to maintain for the rest of the race, with a close race between Olly and David behind. The final results were Phil 3rd, Olly 6th, David 10th. As usual the atmosphere was great, with superb hospitality and organisation from the Marconi team. Put it in your diaries for next year! www.marconi-sc.org.uk

For some good photos of Shadows at the Colne Point Race go to

http://www.sailshots.co.uk/EastCoastPiers/index_3.html

http://www.sailshots.co.uk/EastCoastPiers/index_2.html

 

Results table 2005

There are 5 events in the Series, with 3 to count to the overall result.

At the East Coast Piers Race weekend, the Colne Point race contributes double points to the overall result for that weekend.

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