Stone sailing club has been announced as this year’s venue for the UK Cherub Class National Championship. The four day long event will take place from 28th June to the 1st July and will be shared with the International Canoes.

“It’s the first time the Cherubs have visited the Essex based club en masse and we’re really looking forward to it”, said Ben Brown class fixtures sec.

The Cherub class has been experiencing a bit of a renaissance in recent years with numbers turning out at the nationals increasing. Cherubs offer a very cheap entry into the world of asymmetric skiffy types with seriously good well sorted boats changing hands for as little as £1,500. Class President and Webmaster Jim Champ comments that there “was a lot more genuine interest in the boats”, at Ally Pally last weekend. This year’s national championship is going to be interesting at the top, Gavin Simms and Simon Goodwin have been sailing well in the early part of the season, coming second in the Bloody Mary. Class guru Dave Roe has been chopping off the sides of Pasta Frenzy and rumour has it he’s found himself a new crew. Bloodaxe man Andy Patterson will be looking to retain his crown as champion but there are plenty of others that are capable of doing the business when it counts. As with any class it’s the middle and lower end of the fleet that really matter. The Cherubs have a handicap system for older boats and older crews. But at the end of the day just blasting downwind at 20kts is reason enough to turn up!

“Stone is a great club with plenty of enthusiasm for events like this,” says Brown “but with the Shearwaters turning up for their nationals in August no one is prepared to say who will drink the most.”

The UK Cherub class website www.sailingsource.com/cherub has loads of information on building and sailing cherubs.