Saga Trophy last race and final outcome

Report by John Adams

The last race in the 2019 Saga series was a cracker, with sunshine and with a wind predominantly from the east but varying between that and west on different parts of the course. While frustrating for some, the shifts and gusts did provide the opportunity for gaining and losing places throughout the race.

Fifteen boats came to the start line with Charlie Morgan rounding the first mark in the lead and holding that position for the first two laps. However he fell foul of the fickle wind shifts and lost the lead to John Adams, who was in turn passed by the Tanners in the increasingly rapid RS400 and to Chris Pollard in his N18 Antedote. Behind them there where a number of private battles with Ellen Schwartz making a first appearance in the Thursday evening series and finishing ahead of the other four Lasers.

On handicap, Charles Fox and Robert Blakebrough in the N18 Genevieve continued their fine recent form to win, with the Tanners finishing close behind on second and David Baker and Jim Green and David’s Albacore, Cobblers finishing third.

N18	266	Genevieve	Charles	Fox	Robert	Blakebrough	1
RS400	650		G	Tanner	J	Tanner	2
Albacore	6813	Cobblers	David	Baker	Jim	Green	3
N18	348	Antedote	Chris	Pollard	Caroline	Stilwell	4
Merlin	1602	Saltarello	John	Adams	Carolyne	Vines	5
Merlin	1978	Lady Anne	Charlie	Morgan	Humphrey	Dorrell	6
Laser	146170	Storm	Ellen	Schwartz			7
Merlin	576	Samanda	Tim	Medcalf	Ed	Medcalf	8
Laser	167587		Graham	King			9
Laser	135612		Peter	Impey			10
Merlin	1136	Shoestring	Peter	Johnson	Paul	Jamieson	11
Merlin	1136	Hispanola	Johannes	Wagner	L	Redding	12
Laser		Matulim	John	Edmondson			13
Firefly	3179	Fiasco	Jim	Hamilton			14
Laser	171688	This side up	Tim	Ginn			15

Overall the final race made some changes and enabled a few more to qualify, with 10 boats completing the 4 races needed to qualify.

Charlie Morgan in his Merlin, Lady Anne, mainly crewed by Humphrey Dorrell won the series counting four firsts. However behind him the next four positions were very close, with John Adams in his Merlin Saltarello just finishing ahead of the late charging Charles Fox in his National 18, with David Baker in his Albacore, Cobblers, close behind in fourth.

Class	Number	Name	Helm	Crews	Points	Position
Merlin	1978	Lady Anne	Charlie Morgan	Humphrey Dorrell, John Adams	4	1
Merlin	1602	Saltarello	John Adams	Zoë Adams, Carolyne Vines	9	2
N18	266	Genevieve	Charles Fox	Robert Blakebrough	10	3
Albacore	6813	Cobblers	David Baker	Jim Green, Sue Harris, Sally Redhead, Debbie Baker	11	4
Merlin	1004	Avenger	Ken Duffell	Matt Valentine	15	5
RS400	650		Griff Tanner	Josie and L Tanner	18	6
Laser	208470	Grebe	Stewart Colley		21	7
Laser	167587		Graham King		22	8
Fiasco	3179	Fiasco	Jim Hamilton		22	9
Laser	130773		Chris Taggart		24	10

While the early races in the Saga series were dominated by Charlie Morgan, the signs are that the second half of the Thursday evening series for 2019, the GW Smith series run over July and August, will be much closer with both Charles Fox and the Tanners showing very good results in the last couple of races and David Baker not far behind in his Albacore.

So for good competition throughout the fleet and a tasty supper to round off the evening, the GW Smith series begins with the first race on Thursday 4th July.

John Adams