The journey to Grafham Water last Saturday didn’t look promising as the fog wafted over the car, however, the 31 National 12 teams were met by building breeze and by launch time a Force 2-3 was in play for the final Gill event of the National 12 season.

In the first race Jon Ibbotson and Charlotte Stewart took an early lead however, with the wind shifting through 40 degrees there was a lot of opportunity to overtake. On lap 2 Rosie White and Clare Hunter put in a bid for the lead as did Tom Stewart and Liz Ross (showing that their brand-new Foolish is devilishly quick). However, on the final lap Graham Camm and Zoe Ballantyne navigated their way through the wind holes to take first place.

In race 2, Will and Mary Henderson fought their way to front and held on to the top slot for 2 laps. Camm and Ballantyne slowly worked their way up the fleet during the three laps to snatch the lead from the Hendersons just prior to the finish.

In race three Antony and Jo Gifford had a clear lead by the windward mark and were uncatchable. The pack behind consisted of Ibbotson/Stweart, Fran Gifford and Sophie Mackley, Steve and Joanne Sallis, and John and Katy Meadowcroft. They all had to work hard to maintain their positions but none could catch the Giffords.

Overall Results
1st Graham Camm and Zoe Ballantyne
2nd Antony and Jo Gifford
3rd Tom Stewart and Liz Ross
4th John and Katy Meadowcroft
5th Jon Ibbotson and Charlotte Stewart

Admirals Cup
1st Gerald and Nick Copsey
2nd Philip David and Gary Holdsworth