Well they did it! For a while it seemed that launching 108 Squibs at Dean Reddyhoff Marina was going to be tough. However, by dint of a great system, some very hard work and leadership from Alan McDine, a record number of Squibs were in the water by 4 pm on the day before the Championship, feeling their way through a sea mist into Weymouth Harbour. Away from the mist, the sun shone brilliantly and the forecast was for some very hot days to match the very hot racing.

It looked to be the most open Championship for many a year. While the Hogans were looking for their seventh championship, they had some very serious challengers. Mike and Penny Fenwick, who took the championship at Abersoch in 2007, were in their home waters. Mike Probert, unbeatable when in the class before, had returned and came off a Cowes Week win. Twice national champions, Bryan and Jenny Riley were the lightweights and would go well in the expected light airs. Dave Best and Pete Richards were seen as heavy weather specialists but perhaps might spring a surprise.

Day 1 and A for abandonment, B for black flag, G for general recall, P for postponement. The first day was a test of patience and concentration. The start of the practice race was delayed ashore waiting for wind and when the signal was given to leave the moorings, many boats had to be towed out of the harbour including one brave soul who went back for his tally, unwilling to donate a fiver to the chosen charity, The Chesil Trust.

When the practice race eventually did get under way, the fleet was put out of its drifting misery by abandonment halfway up the first beat. After a longish wait and more recalls, the fleet got away for the first race proper, only for a massive wind shift to turn the beat into a reach. Abandonment occurred much to the displeasure of Squiblissitude 120 and Billy Ruff'n 841 who had the best start of their whole lives, laying the mark with clear water between them and the rest of the fleet.

In the end, the race was started in a wind which gradually built to a force 2. First at the windward mark was 132 Cariad Bach with Alan Johnson and David Garlick who set off into the distance, caught only on the line by Dave Best and Pete Richards who sprung their light weather surprise.

Day two and at dawn there were fears that yet another day of frustration awaited the 108 boat fleet but as the fleet left the harbour there was 15 knots of wind. Such promise was not fulfilled although at least the fleet kept moving until the last beat and run.

The wind constantly moved right as it followed the sun and in contrast to the previous day, positions changed dramatically. The leaders at the last windward mark lost it by the finish. Indeed the eventual winners, Dave Best and Pete Richards in Crossfire 797, were only 22nd at the first mark and 5th at the final windward mark making through only on the last almost windless run. Second was Banshee 65, Nigel Harris and John Stephenson 2000 National Champions and 3rd was Brimstone, Bryan and Jenny Riley Champions in 1990 and 1993.

Young Freddie Warren-Smith, all of 14 years old, helmed 13 Aquabat to 37th following his 45th of the day before, escaping the fate of many boats who were actually lapped in the final very difficult conditions.

Day 3 and to the utter astonishment of the 108 boat National Squib Championship fleet, the third race started at the very first attempt, albeit under the black flag. One of the 'best' starts was that of 14 year Freddie Warren-Smith - the rising star of the Squib Fleet - who 'finished' 10th. He started right under the nose of the race officer who repaid his enthusiasm with an OCS.

The first beat was a topsy-turvy affair and some top crews found themselves well down the fleet. However, in a very difficult day, the cream rose to the top. Of the leading seven boats, six were helmed by past national champions and the remaining boat was crewed by twice Inland Champions.

At the start, the wind looked innocent enough - a warm comfortably sitting out breeze - but its innocence was more of the order of the 'Kindly Ones' - the Furies who lure unsuspecting sailors to their doom. The wind declined steadily and disappeared in the middle of the race track. It gradually and fitfully came in from the left and boats that went up the middle - as the local lore would advise with the wind from the SE - were heavily disadvantaged. Going right was even worse.

The Hogans, in Rico'shea 136, took the winners gun, followed by the usual suspects - Ghost Rider 758, Pani Munta 128, Crossfire 797, Alchemy 800, Banshee 65, Brimstone 73 with both Artemis 36 and Humphrey 823 making one of their frequent visits to the top ten.

Day 4 and as you will remember, Murphy has three laws. The first is that if anything can go wrong, it will. The second, most relevant to this day, is that any choice will be the wrong one. (The third law is the most important but, of course, by a special application of Murphy's first law it has been forgotten.)

Murphy's second law explains why the other lane in the traffic queue always goes faster that yours. It also explains why, on day 4, the choice to go right or left up the beat - or indeed up the middle - was the wrong one. Now you being a logical sort of person will be saying to yourself, "But surely the choice was not wrong for everyone?" Well you may have a point but the phenomenon that visited the Squib Fleet today is akin, for example, to the statistic that 90% of drivers think they are better than average. It is a nonsense, but there it is.

Johnson and David Garlick this time were not pipped at the post as they lead all the way round. Nigel Grogan and Daniel Cripps had a good day in second place for most of the race, dropping back to third at the finish behind Gerard Dyson and Tony Saltonstall who pulled themselves up to second from 9th. Malcolm Hutchings and Andy Ramsey in Lady Penelope 819 excelled with a 6th place after three races in the 30s. Peter White and Stuart Howells got going at last with an 8th place.

Day 4 and Thursday was not what you might call an exciting day, although it did have its exciting moments. As one Squibber said, "You'd pay a fortune for an intensive training course on starting like that." After five, six (or was it seven?) abortive starts, the Race Officer lost the will to live and sent the fleet home as the wind died away to nothing. Excellent starting practice no doubt but not much more. At least 25 boats were black flagged and a few simply just went home. Those who stayed out must have been hoping that attrition would give them a podium place.

Day 6 and a sparkling day with the wind back in its ‘normal’ place for Weymouth, South West and a lovely force 3 to 4. The very appearance of the bay made you ache to go sailing, the sun like the Riviera and the sea like Asti Spumante. Unfortunately, some 25 members of the fleet had to stay home for a while, having been black flagged the day before as Race 5 was run. A shorter course was chosen and Alchemy 800, Rico’shea 136, Pani Munta 128 and Ghost Rider 758 took advantage of the absence of other contenders to put some good numbers on the board.

Crossfire 797 and Banshee 65 came back with a second and fifth respectively in race 6 but it was too late as the Hogans added yet another Championship to their amazing record. Cariad Bach 132 was second and Crossfire 797 was third.

Overall it was a week for not accepting the ‘rules’. Chris Hogan said that quite often he had no idea which was the right way to go and if he thought that what about the lesser beings? One fleet had ‘hired’ an Olympic hopeful to brief them on wind directions and choice of course. That was a mistake! One local sailor said it always pays to go left when the wind is from the SW. It didn’t. Another said that the race officer will never set the start line close in to shore. He did.

 

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	136	Rico'shea	Chris Hogan	3	-5	1	5	2	1	12
2	132	Cariad Bach	Alan Johnson	2	4	-48	1	6	4	17
3	797	Crossfire	Dave Best	1	1	4	13	-109	2	21
4	65	Banshee	Nigel Harris	5	2	6	10	-109	5	28
5	800	Alchemy	Gerard Dyson	-109	6	5	2	1	15	29
6	758	Ghost Rider	Mike Fenwick	6	-11	2	11	4	7	30
7	128	Pani Munta	Mike Probert	7	7	3	-16	3	13	33
8	73	Brimstone	Bryan Riley	8	3	7	7	-109	14	39
9	105	Helmut Shoing II	Nigel Grogan	-109	20	21	3	5	3	52
10	869	Tears in heaven	Peter Marchant	9	16	14	4	-109	11	54
11	789	Dream On	Brian Holland	4	21	-33	9	7	18	59
12	127	Misfire	Roger Harris	16	-25	10	22	8	12	68
13	51	Battalion	Dick Batt	10	9	12	17	-109	39	87
14	868	By The Lee	Nic Tolhurst	20	28	11	21	-109	10	90
15	828	White Magic	David Wines	-51	10	15	36	18	20	99
16	52	Bacchante VII	Gerwyn Brown	26	-67	13	28	16	16	99
17	761	Trophoblast	Chris Goodfellow	17	-41	30	20	12	23	102
18	811	Spoof	Micky Wright	11	-39	20	26	21	26	104
19	96	Moonstone	Malcolm Blackburn	-109	17	28	15	14	32	106
20	864	No Name	Peter White	-109	46	36	8	9	9	108
21	20	Buccaneer	Sarah Everitt	15	13	18	14	-109	48	108
22	36	Artemis	Mark Wincer	19	23	8	32	-109	27	109
23	829	Kachina Too	Michael Hughes	14	43	22	24	13	-47	116
24	849	Essayes	Phil Snewin	-109	12	43	43	18*	7*	123
25	819	Lady Penelope	Malcolm Hutchings	37	33	32	6	-109	19	127
26	838	Maximus	Max Evans	47	27	37	-49	11	6	128
27	844	Saskia V	Mark Bugler	12	-68	34	46	17	30	139
28	50	Firebird	Owen Delaney	28*	42	16	44	10	-109	140
29	58	Still Talkin	David Gooch	-109	44	17	12	25	43	141
30	108	Ogo Pogo	Toby Taylor	34	-76	42	40	15	17	148
31	124	Tasmanian Devil	Chris Arnold	24	35	-54	30	28	38	155
32	867	Cold Fusion	Gareth Evans	43	15	58	19	24	-63	159
33	72	Guy Fawkes	Phil Aspinall	52	-55	26	18	43	24	163
34	153	Aldebaran	Adrian Crook	13	26	27	58	-109	45	169
35	846	Sophie	Sam Cole	-109	66	25	31	27	21	170
36	823	Humphrey	Robert Coyle	-109	24	9	23	109	8	173
37	621	Maggaroo	Simon Vines	22	19	38	-62	40	61	180
38	803	Footles	Frank Haslam	42	38	35	39	33	-53	187
39	862	Brutus	Simon Griffin	60	-79	46	38	20	25	189
40	781	Longshot	Jim Chalmers	29	8	67	55	31	-109	190
41	99	Rebound	Richard Peacock	41	34	49	37	-109	31	192
42	858	Bacchante VIII	Andy Brown	31	14	19	-109	109	22	195
43	157	Chequemate	Sarah Sullivan	38	-73	61	27	23	50	199
44	510	No Wonder	Kit Noble	-53	22	51	47	44	41	205
45	853	Echo	John Barton	33	-82	44	48	39	42	206
46	755	Cybi	Richard Roberts	-109	45	29	52	26	55	207
47	822	Archimedes	Mark Heseltine	44	54	57	41	19	-77	215
48	24	Femme Fatale	Vincent Delany	109	30	24	25	-32	28	216
49	63	Inky Finger	Dave McCune	48	18	83	33	-109	35	217
50	512	Atom	Peter Johnson	23	-84	59	73	30	33	218
51	13	Aquabat	Freddie Warren-Smith	45	37	-109	35	41	69	227
52	160	Blood,Sweat & Tears	David Lloyd	18	-64	63	51	38	60	230
53	843	Roisin	Ian Williams	50	-70	70	56	22	34	232
54	695	Mimosa	Simon Unwin	57	40	-74	72	29	57	255
55	808	Osprey	Chris Gear	66	31	55	63	-109	40	255
56	842	Posh Totty	Alan McDine	64	56	-66	45	35	62	262
57	120	Squiblissitude	Ted Reilly	39	60	73	-74	42	54	268
58	737	Halcyon	Andy Hough	59	-83	64	42	48	56	269
59	848	Caesar	Adrian Fluker	27	-77	60	67	50	66	270
60	30	Crimson Dusk	Robin Delves	49	80	56	34	60	-109	279
61	562	Capricorn	Hugh Conway	56	-78	76	77	37	36	282
62	640	Firecracker Too	Andrew Porteous	54	71	53	61	-109	44	283
63	812	Whirl'n Dervish	Henriette Brand	35	91	47	53	-109	59	285
64	571	Bluebottle	John Thomson	83	36	89	-93	34	46	288
65	841	Billy Ruff'n	David West	63	58	-72	69	47	52	289
66	627	Firestreak	Sally Everitt	72	62	41	-78	51	65	291
67	773	Artful Dodger	Robin Hasler	55	63	52	59	65	-73	294
68	140	Kinard	Colin Bentley	32	53	50	54	-109	109	298
69	83	Easy	David White	-109	29	23	29	109	109	299
70	88	Hussy	Vernon Taylor	-109	61	78	57	54	51	301
71	632	Esme	Andrew Milligan	28	-81	77	80	53	68	306
72	543	Polly Garter	David Hall	65	-93	65	71	36	71	308
73	152	Trio	Derek Higgins	36	65	62	79	-109	72	314
74	40	Ruby	Kim Vasey	21	72	39	76	-109	109	317
75	805	Magic Flute	Bob Smales	70	74	-93	75	49	49	317
76	796	Bootneck	John Lewis	58	57	40	60	-109	109	324
77	809	Squffy	Chris Stonehouse	46	-88	84	65	56	74	325
78	89	Klipbok	Emmet Dalton	25	47	45	101	-109	109	327
79	736	Magic Roundabout	Michael Bradley	78	-90	88	85	46	37	334
80	487	Baby Hippo	Clive Bennett	67	59	69	-83	59	80	334
81	854	B of the Bang	Paul Hardy	74	49	-91	82	58	79	342
82	708	Satu	Kevin Gibson	77	-101	92	66	45	67	347
83	37	Kerfuffle	Jonathon Craig	-109	51	31	50	109	109	350
84	791	Crazy Diamond	Peter Wilson	40	75	71	64	-109	109	359
85	857	Rising Damp	David East	62	50	75	70	-109	109	366
86	798	Why Not	Derek Jago	61	32	81	91	-109	109	374
87	727	Cripple Creek Ferry	John Bryan-Williams	81	-107	87	94	55	58	375
88	635	Zip	Frank Lovelock	84	-102	82	86	57	76	385
89	564	Quicksilver	Eddie Harper	-109	86	90	88	52	70	386
90	645	Second Wind	John Croydon	69	48	96	68	-109	109	390
91	835	Kestrel	David Longford	85	87	-95	81	62	83	398
92	542	Comet	Peter Soole	75	92	80	-96	68	84	399
93	77	King Sole	Glyn Deakin	-109	94	68	101	109	29	401
94	735	Iceni Rebel	Colin Hammond	82	69	94	92	66	-109	403
95	581	Squibble	AdrianTemple	-109	85	85	90	63	82	405
96	605	Supernova	David Leverton	30	52	106	-109	109	109	406
97	688	Lizwiz	Sam Prime	80	96	98	-109	61	75	410
98	332	Mayfly	Roger Horler	73	100	-101	95	64	78	410
99	578	Last Gasp	Lesley Harvey	76	95	86	89	67	-109	413
100	470	Lapdancer	Shaun Gilbard	79	98	-99	97	69	85	428
101	608	Inquisition	Patrick Jones	71	89	-109	101	109	64	434
102	337	Dynamite	Terence Stevens	86	99	97	98	-109	81	461
103	86	Jubilation	Ernie Lee	68	-109	109	109	109	109	504
104	604	Speculator	James Shuttleworth	-109	103	100	84	109	109	505
105	655	White Knuckles	Peter Lloyd	-109	97	106	87	109	109	508
106	33	Peteca	Richard Major	105	-109	79	109	109	109	511
107	297	Sparkle	Robin Norman	-109	107	102	109	109	109	536
108	855	Croc	Nick Faulkner	-109	109	109	109	109	109	545