The fourth National 12 Gill Series Event took place at Tynemouth last weekend. The fleet of 15 arrived on Saturday to see the usual Tynemouth 12 conditions of Force 4-5 and large confused seas which made it difficult to see the 5ft tall orange marks (sometimes even from just a few boat lengths away). The first race saw Ian and Alex Gore storm into a big lead, which they maintained even after going for a swim on one of the runs. Graham Camm and Zoe Ballantyne took an easy second with Terry and Angie Cooke in third.

The second race again saw the Gores take a big lead which they maintained to the finish. The fight for second was initially led by Mark and Emma Simpson, although they were eventually overhauled by Steve Sallis and Jenny James (who showed considerable increase in boat speed after unscrewing the wings from their rudder) and Camm/Ballantyne.

The Saturday night entertainment comprised a talk by Mike Cooke (Aardvark Technologies) and Geoff Camm on how anyone can build a hi-tech National 12. And a barbecue.

Sunday dawned with a bit less wind, smaller waves that actually went the same way as the wind and even a bit of sunshine. The Gores carried on from where they had left off the previous day, winning the first two races and then heading home. Camm/Ballantyne finished second in each of those races and then won the final race to take second overall, with Sallis/James finishing one place behind in each race and third overall.

Overall Results

1st Tabitha Musto, Ian and Alex Gore, Up River YC

2nd Thanks for all the Fish, Graham Camm and Zoe Ballantyne, Burghfield SC

3rd Dilbert, Steve Sallis and Jenny James,

4th Not Another Aardvark, Terry and Angie Cooke, Notts County SC

5th Aardvark Issues, Mark and Emma Simpson, Scaling Dam SC