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What makes the Kestrel So Special

Videos by Paul Barnett

Event REcap

The 2024 Kestrel UK Championship

Hosted by the Royal Tay Yacht Club. 15 entries.

Fifteen Kestrel dinghies entered the UK National Championship hosted at the RYA Impact Award winning Royal Tay Yacht Club. Winds and tides combined to provide a highly competitive series of close races with places changing lap by lap. A south westerly wind pattern over a flood tide allowed the race committee to set beats that offered both left and right options. The opportunity for peril on the start line, by being pushed over was largely avoided, there were no general and only a couple of individual recalls. At the top end of the beat, the flood tide gave opportunities for late arrivals on port tack to squeeze round inside starboard tackers who ended up overstanding the mark. On the runs, there was no hiding from the adverse tide which provided more time for boats to cover, overtake or choose wider routes. The angles were worked out very well and encouraged close racing. Over the four days, all but two of the 10 races were won and lost at the end of the last downwind leg.

Day 1- Saturday 3rd August

Race 1 : Draycote Trophy (Barometer)

Wind west 18 kt with 25 kt gusts, sunshine and a flood tide. Course – windward leeward, 4 laps close race with the top three boats all in contention until the mid-point of the race when Worsley and Harper drew out a decisive lead. Sparkling sailing with the Tay at its best, but tough on the legs and abs!

Results

First – (1638) Malcolm Worsley and Richard Harper.
Second – (1648) Stewart Murdoch and Ken Scott-Brown.
Third – (1574) Howard Enkel and Danni Tebbutt.

Race 2 : The Designer Trophy

Wind west 14 kt with 22 kt gusts. Course – Triangle, sausage, triangle. Another close race. The leading three boats locked together for a full hour of racing. Murdoch and Scott-Brown led going into the last lap and were still in the lead until the last mark at which Worsley and Harper established an inside overlap and went on to finish 2 seconds ahead.

Day 2 – 4th August

Race 3 The Kestrel 2000 Trophy

Wind south west, 14 kt gusting 20 kt. Flood tide. Course – windward / leeward 4 laps. In a repeat of day 1 Worsley and Harper reached the windward mark with a clear boat length on Murdoch and Scott Brown, places changed twice on the run and so it continued until the last beat when Worsley and Harper picked the shift correctly and established an unassailable lead.

Race 4 : The Ashford Bowl

Wind south west, 14 kt gusting 16 kt. Course – windward / leeward 4 laps. One of the closest races with the top four boats always in close contention and swapping places. Enkel and Tebbutt led at the first mark but were pulled in by the chasing group and passed on the first run, they took back the lead on the last run by staying high, picking up the gust first and holding it all together to the finish.

Race 5 : The Rock Trophy

Harper showing the intensity required as the championship half won, by race 5, the rest of the fleet now requiring snookers.(Bremner)

Wind south with big gusts and shifts. 12 kt, gusts 18 kt. Course – triangle, sausage, triangle. Another clear and close start. The tide was still flooding, but
softening. The first two rounds hinted at what was to come, there were big shifts with some uncomfortable lulls. The first reach became a close fetch and the second a dead run as the wind backed south. On the last triangle things became a little crazy with a huge shift to the south favouring the mid fleet group and allowing the top three to be caught right up and most passed. Worsley and Harper squeezed round the windward mark just ahead of the chasing pack and held onto their lead over the very uncomfortable last two reaches keeping Barnett and Lamb just behind until the finish.

Day 3 – 5th August

Race 6 The Ernie Miller Trophy

After a calm morning the forecast south westerly built nicely as the fleet left the beach, with some brisk gusts under a rather foreboding sky. Course – windward / leeward. Murdoch and Ken Scott-Brown led by a boat length at the windward mark but were rolled by Howie and Tebbutt to windward and Worsley and Harper who went through to leeward on the first run. At the second windward mark Murdoch and Scott-Brown were again first to round and managed to hold their lead onto the second beat, the first three boats locked together, never more than a boat length apart. This pattern continued. The Kestrel fleet is known for its close sailing, but this was one of the closest races over an hour, settled in the final analysis by Worsley and Harper, with Murdoch and Scott-Brown second and Barnett and Lamb a very close third.

Race 7 – The Weird Wood Crystal

Glassware, not silverware for a delighted Scott-Brown and Murdoch (Bremner)

The forecast 33 kt gusts never quite materialised, but there were very big and volatile gusts with a base south westerly wind of 15kt. Course – triangle, sausage, triangle. Uncharacteristically, Worsley had a bad start leaving Murdoch and Scott-Brown with a clear lead. Despite the violent gusts as the fleet reached the first mark Murdoch and Scott-Brown hoisted their spinnaker and flew down the reaches, surviving the gybe and establishing a significant lead. A number of others spent some time checking out the finish on the underside of their hull. There was a close battle between Enkel and Worsley for second which Enkel won.

Race 8 : The Tay Barometer – the long distance race.

Worsley and Harper with the newest trophy created for the Kestrel Class. (Bremner)

The wind had eased slightly to 14 kt with gusts after lunch and was to drop through the race. Course – west through the Tay Bridge, a ‘sausage’ off Riverside Drive and the V&A Dundee, before the reach back to the navigation spans and finally a long run to the finish off the grassy beach. In response to a recall at the start two boats went back. It was a lumpy first beat and the fleet became quite separated by the time Worsley and Harper led through the Road Bridge. It was a lead that they continued to extend. The race became slightly processional, but the opportunity of a passage race was appreciated and provided a unique experience. On the run back to the RTYC, the wind died and it looked as if it would be a struggle to stem the now ebbing tide. However, after fifteen minutes spent failing to fill the spinnakers, a new westerly filled in from astern and the fleet closed up, finishing within a few minutes of each other after a 1hour 20 minute race. Both Murdoch and Barnett, however, finished to silence. They too had been judged to be OCS at the start! There were a few new names in the top positions :

1st Worsley / Harper
2nd Enkel / Tebbutt
3rd Hunter / Hoo
4th Moore / Wilson

With two discards now being counted Worsley and Harper had won the Championship with a day to spare. Podium places, were still very much up for grabs with several close scores going into the final day.

Day 4 – 6th August
Races 9 & Race 10 designated the Scottish Championship

Race 9

Wind south west force 3, with big gusts. Flood tide. Sunshine. Course – windward / leeward, 4 laps.

Another typically close start, with all boats on the line and clear. It was only on the first beat that the importance of picking the shifts correctly showed.

The first three boats reached the windward mark absolutely line abreast, Worsley and Harper had “water” and rounded on the inside with Enkel and Tebbutt and Murdoch and Scott-Brown both forced wide. This set the positions for the run…..at least initially. With the gusts coming from astern there were many position changes within the fleet and several overlaps at the leeward mark. It continued thus with compression downwind on each of the four rounds. Those who pulled ahead would be reeled in, positions changed and every leg was a battle against the shifts as well as the competition.

Bremner and Anderson hit by a big gust, pulled off the most spectacular capsize of the championship as they rocketed towards the leeward mark, threading their way through beating boats only to wipe out before they could drop the spinnaker and regain control.

It was Enkel and Tebbutt who produced the best downwind speed to finish first, ahead of Worsley, followed by Murdoch.

Race 10

The last race of the UK Championship and the second of the Scottish Championship was started in a marginally fresher wind with marginally stronger gusts. These were strong enough to produce a few capsizes and to give exciting racing which kept the fleet bunched closely together.

There were some wicked shifts on the beats which could result in three or four places being lost or gained in the blink of an eye. This did not unsettle Worsley and Harper who once more produced a commanding performance to win the Scottish Championship day.

The competition for places was intense, none more so than the fight for second place overall. This was finally decided on the 20 metre hitch from the last mark to the finish line after an hour of close racing. Murdoch and Scott-Brown managed to gybe quicker and sail over Enkel and Tebbutt. Only one point separated their final scores after 10 races.

Championship results :

The top four finishing positions for race 10 were the same as race 1 and the overall championship places :

Worsley and Harper (1638)
Murdoch and Scott-Brown (1648)
Enkel and Tebbutt (1574)
Barnett and Lamb (1633)

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What makes the Kestrel So Special

Event REcap

The 2024 Kestrel UK Championship