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Latest news from the British Hobie Cat Class Association
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26 March 2005
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Rutland TT
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The first event of the Hobie calendar saw Saturday dawn with very little wind and sunshine, by the beginning of the first race the wind had begun to fill in and increased as the day went on to produce some exhilarating sailing.
The Hobie 16 fleet were dominated by Tom Phipps and Jon Cook winning all 3 races, and Adam Butler and Robert Moore gaining two firsts and a second in the Dragoon fleet with Sam Chadder and Ashley Aitken winning the other race.
Sunday was grey with a force 2-3, the Hobie 16 fleet saw some new winners with Toby Orpin and Ricky Heasman getting a first and a second and Sam Newton and Nick Tayler two firsts.In the Dragoon fleet Fay Ridyard and Tom Allen had a first and a second with Angus and Ellie Furnaeaux putting in a good last race to win.
At the end of the day the leaders from Saturday were still on top and won overall.
Hobie 16
1st Tom Phipps and Jon Cook
2nd Toby Orpin and Ricky Heasman
3rd Sam Newton and Nick Tayler
Hobie Dragoon
1st Adam Butler and Robert Moore
2nd Fay Ridyard and Tom Allen
3rd Angus and Ellie Furneaux
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30 Oct 2004
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Weston TT
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The deciding event of the Wildwind Sponsored Hobie Travellers Trophy was held over the weekend of the 30/31st October in light breezes and some welcome autumn sunshine.
The 1st day saw the Hobie 16 spinnaker fleet being dominated by Tom Phipps and Jon Cook with 2 firsts and a second closely followed by Sam Newton and Nick Tayler with one first and 2 seconds, Luke Butler and Kate England close on their heels. There was some close racing in the Hobie 16s without spinnaker with Tony Rix and Toby Orpin leading at the end of the day.
The 2nd day there was some tight racing with the 1st two boats on equal points and Tom Phipps and Jon Cook winning as the winner of the last race from Sam Newton and Nick Tayler. Racing was made even more exciting with a fishing boat trawling through the start line on the start gun!
The Hobie 16 without spinnakers saw Alan Glover and Ruth Tayler enjoying slightly more wind and coming out in front at the end of the day.
The Hobie Dragoon fleet saw Richard and Andy Glover winning all 6 races followed by Adam Butler and Robert Moore hard on their heels. It was good to see some new faces in the Dragoons and some old Dragoon faces now sailing a Hobie 16.
The Wildwind sponsored Travellers Trophy (best of 4 events in 2004) went to Tom and Jon in the Hobie 16, Richard and Andy Glover in the Dragoon and the raffle to Tony Rix. They were all winners of a holiday at Wildwind, Vassiliki Greece which was presented by Joe Constable from Wildwind Holidays. |
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12 Sept 2004
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New Tiger Trophy
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With the growing numbers of Hobie Tigers sailing in the UK the British Hobie Cat Class Association is pleased to announce a new annual trophy for the top Tiger platform sailing in the F18 fleet.
John Dinsdale of Hobie Cat Europe has donated the trophy. It is a wire frame outline of a Hobie Tiger made by Jean Pierre Foucaud who used to actively race a Hobie. The base of the trophy is a section cut from a Tiger cross beam.
Brian Phipps successful development of the RYA Junior and Youth catamaran program, has produced a growing number of high quality youth teams who will be looking at F18 as a potential route to Olympic Tornado.
BHCCA offers training sessions and weekends to all sailors in all types of Hobie including the Tiger.
For 2004 the new Tiger trophy will be awarded at the Grafham Open to the 1st Tiger sailing in the F18 class.
To see a picture of the new Tiger trophy click here . |
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28 Aug 2004
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Nationals, Pevensey
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The Hobie Nationals took place at Pevensey Bay Sailing Club and were preceded by class and youth squad training. There were 11 Hobie 16s with Asymmetric spinnakers, 9 without spinnaker and 8 Hobie Dragoons including 3 new charter teams.
The Hobie 16s all sailed on the same course enjoying light winds on the first day, it was Simon Kearns and Ben Burns that were leaders at the end of the day in the Hobie 16 spi with Derek and Craig Matter winning all 3 races in the non spi Hobie 16 and straight 1sts in the Dragoons from Rich and Andy Glover.
Sunday dawned grey skied and windy with the Race Officer managing to get 2 races in before the conditions deteriorated further. Racing in the Hobie 16 spi was dominated by 2 1sts from Ben Mansfield and Ben Hinks, Derek and Craig Matter and the Glover brothers had another good day showing that they were able to get bullets in both conditions.
Monday brought sunshine and winds of force 4-5 the race officer squeezed in 4 races back to back in superb conditions. Simon Kearns and Ben Burns sailed well to get 2 1sts, which was enough to give them the 1st Hobie 16 with Spinnaker trophy. Derek and Craig Matter had 2 1sts and 2 4ths again enough to clinch Hobie National Champion.
In the dragoon fleet Rich and Andy Glover had 3 1sts and 1 2nd being beaten by Hannah Rowles and Steph Wall.
It was a close battle between the Hobie 16 with spi as there were only 5 points between 2nd and 4th.
The new Charter Teams did well as it was there first taste of racing a cat and conditions were testing at times and very wet!
Our thanks go to all the Pevensey Bay sailors and volunteers who made the weekend on the water and the shore very enjoyable and to Reef and Hobiecat for sponsoring the prizes. |
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05 May 2004
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Eurocat Carnac
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Four British Hobie 16 travelled to the event to race with the other 50 Hobie 16s to bring the entries to a total of 54 boats. After a few days training from Marcus Lynch the event kicked off.
Day one was a day of medium winds, 12-14 knots with large shifts and squalls with the rain.
Race one got away first time with a generally line shy fleet. Simon Kearns and Ben Burns lead round the first windward mark and lead to the finish. Kevin Cooper and Justin Martin sailed a safe race to finish 2nd after having been 2nd for most of the race. Ryan Crawford and Lewis Crawford pulled through to finish 6th after having under-layed the spreader mark.
Race two was held in similar conditions with the Crawford brothers winning the start off the pin end. Following their start they lead round the course to win followed by Kearns Burns in 3rd and Cooper Martin in 4th.
The last race of the day began in about 8-10 knots with Kearns Burns almost being called OCS in the middle of the line. Round the windward mark the Crawfords lead followed by Cooper Martin in 2nd and Kearns Burns in 7th. By the finish Cooper Martin had pulled through to lead by a comfortable margin with the Crawfords in 4th and Kearns Burns in 5th. More... |
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04 Apr 2004
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Rutland TT
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The weekend commenced with sunny skies and a light breeze. By the time the 12 strong Hobie 16 fleet and fleet of Hobie Dragoons started the breeze had picked up.
This was the 1st TT event in which the youth squad had the choice of sailing with the asymmetric in the Hobie 16 which gave spectators some spectacular capsizes to view.
The wind was very gusty increasing for the 2nd race with a few of the less hardy deciding that 2 out of 3 races were enough! At the end of the day it was Tom Phipps and Jon Cook who had managed two 1sts and one 3rd that led the Hobie Asymmetric 16's with Alan Glover and Ruth Tayler leading the Hobie 16's. In the Dragoon fleet Andrew and Richard Glover with two firsts. Rob Wilson from the RYA and of Tornado fame gave a very good debrief in the evening which everyone enjoyed.
Sunday dawned sunny with a steady force 4-5. The forecast was to increase so the race officer set 3 races back to back. Some exciting sailing followed with some close finishes and artistic pitchpoles keeping the rescue boats busy.
At the end of the regatta the results were:
1.Tom Phipps and Jon Cook
2.Kevin Cooper and Justin Martin
Non spinnaker Hobie 16
1.Alan Glover and Ruth Tayler
2.Ian Craven and Steve Wilson
Dragoon
1.Richard and Andrew Glover
2.Hannah Rowles and Stephanie Wall. |
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08 Nov 2003
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Weston TT
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Weston Sailing Club were the hosts of the final Hobie TT of the year. There were 6 races and each one involved some very close racing between the 14 Hobie 16's. On the Saturday after the first 3 races Ryan and Lewis Crawford put in a good performance to be the overnight leaders. The winds were a very gusty and shifty F3/4 which made the sailing considerably more challenging than normal, it was exciting and really made the Dragoons fly along, especially down wind. There were a few capsizes but they were righted quickly with the teams involved carrying on with the race. Richard and Andy Glover were sailing the new Dragoon Extreme with its larger sail area which took a little getting used to!!
The winds calmed down a bit for the Sunday, which bunched the 16 fleet even closer together. There were a few incidents on the start line to keep everyone on their toes, and it was apparent that the people who studied the start line before the race usually got the best results because of it. It was Sam Newton and Nick Tayler's first Hobie 16 TT and they certainly are to be reckoned with in the future. There was a lot of pressure on the top Hobies this weekend to try and get a good result to impress the world selectors for Mexico in May. Tom Phipps and Jon Cook sailed an impressive last day to take the victory overall in the Hobie 16. The first Dragoon home was Hannah Rowles and Stephanie Wall with Richard and Andy Glover in 2nd and Josh and Leo Chambers 3rd.
The overall Hobie 16 TT winners were Ben Mansfield and Ben Hinks who have had a very consistent year. Sam Newton and Nick Tayler won the Hobie Dragoon TT series.
A big thanks goes to Weston Sailing Club and to Wildwind the TT sponsor for supplying the Hobie 16 and Dragoon TT winners, and the winners of the raffle a wonderful holiday next year. |
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12 Oct 2003
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Grafham Water TT
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Saturday dawned sunny and very still. A slight breeze materialised allowing the racing to start on time, but didn't remain long enough to complete all races that day. Toby Orpin and Mike Laming dominated the first race finishing well ahead of the fleet. Lack of wind made for difficult sailing in the second race. Simon Kearns and Ben Burns managed to clear the windward mark before the wind died and established and maintained a commanding lead. Ben Mansfield and Ben Hinks took second place after pulling up from 4th on the last leg. Lack of wind resulted in the third race being abandoned. More... |
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7 Sept 2003
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Stokes Bay TT
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Ten Hobie 16's attended the cat open at Stokes Bay Sailing Club on the south coast. The first day dawned with a good force 2-3 and, although the wind dropped completely during the first race, the different experience of sailing in a handicap fleet was good for the youth sailors (having spent all summer sailing in Hobie 16 only fleets) After a 30 minute postponement the wind suddenly filled in to a 3-4 and two more races were sailed in this new, fresher breeze.
The second day, however was not so brilliant. The teams were presented with a two hour long postponement while the wind built and then spent a further 30 minutes waiting on the water for the wind to settle down to a steady direction. Despite this a challenging race was sailed in which major place changes took place due to a massive wind shift and change in strength. The race began in a force 1-2 and finished in a good force 4!
In spite of the variable winds, a good weekend was had by all, especially Kevin and Justin winning their first TT. A special mention must go to Simon Kearns and Ben Burns for winning the handicap fleet overall. Thanks go to Stokes Bay SC for hosting the event and the race officer. |
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