The 2004 Blaze Nationals at Mengeham Rythe SC proved two things. Firstly
that twice previous champion Steve Cockerill is still extremely hard to beat
when he gets in the groove and secondly how far the class has progressed in the
last 3 years. 47 entrants produced 43 racers on the water on June 4/5/6 in
Chichester Harbour, a record for the class. They were greeted by relatively
light winds this year and spring tides that combined to tax the skills of
all.

Day One - A Light NW wind fought a feeble sea breeze. This seemed to punish
those taking the middle route in race 1 and reward those prepared to risk all
beyond the natural lay lines. Positions rapidly reversed and 20 places could
be made or lost in a couple of minutes. In the end it was Cockerill (707)
followed by Mike Lyons (654), Paul Taylor (640) and Dutchman Rien Zilvold
(715) who were in the right place at the finish. The second race was just as
difficult and the tide inevitably put many over the line leading to a general
recall.

After they got away Cockerill again did the business followed by Zilvold and
Dan Partington (668), Lyons and Keith Simmons (556).

Day Two - Another fight between a light wind and late sea breeze made for
frustrating conditions again. Another general recall too in the days first
race before the racers got away saw Cockerill and Lyons fight it out shadowed by
Paul Hemsley (656) and Zilvold, with David Batchelor (714) close behind.
Further behind many of the middle order indulged in a rafting competition at
a couple of the marks. The leaders finished in this order but Hemsley was
unfortunately judged over at the start. The next race was largely a repeat o
f race 3 with Cockerill and Lyons ahead followed by an improving Ralph Jones (667),
Zilvold, Batchelor and 'class returnee' Andy Skynner (507). The days third
race was eventually abandoned as the wind died completely leading to the fleet
fighting an impossible battle with the tide. Typically the best wind of the
day then suddenly arrived as the sea breeze finally won and the fleet was on its
way back to enjoy the excellent new facilities at the host club. A themed 'D
Day' evening at the club and live music followed an excellent dinner.

Day Three - At last a vast improvement in the weather. Sun and a reasonable
breeze put the smiles back on the competitors faces. Cockerill and Lyons
quickly cleared the fleet for their own drag race around the course in race 6
with Cockerill just having the edge offwind. They were followed by David Angwin
(710) and Partington. Race 7 saw Cockerill over the line to spoil his
perfect score and he declined to restart. Jones and Zilvold jumped into the void
followed by Lyons and Angwin. In the final race Cockerill stormed away to
make the point followed by the regular bunch but with newcomer Hugh Kingdon (663) suddenly finding form to finish 5th.

The class would like to take this opportunity to thank all at MRSC for
hosting a great Nationals at their impressive new facilities - we'll be back
before too long and can thoroughly recommend it to other 'smaller' classes looking
for a new venue. The next Blaze events are at Royal Findhorn in Scotland on
the 3/4th July and at Felpham SC on 11th July.

 

Results:

1st 707 Steve Cockerill - Stokes Bay - 5 points
2nd 654 Mike Lyons - Burghfield - 11 points (1st Master)
3rd 715 Rien Zilvold - WSUR - 14 points (2nd Master)
4th 667 Ralph Jones - Bala - 21 points
5th 668 Dan Partington - Bala - 22 points
6th 710 David Angwin - Burghfield - 36 points
7th 714 David Batchelor - Isle of Man - 36 points
8th 656 Paul Hemsley - Burghfield - 39 points (3rd Master)

Blaze Nationals 2004
Sail NUMBER	HELM	CLUB	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8		Points	Result
707	Steve Cockerill	Stokes Bay	1	1	1	1		1	DSQ	1		5	1
654	Mike Lyons	Burghfield	2	4	2	2		2	3	4		11	2
715	Rien Zilvold	WSUR	4	2	3	4		5	2	3		14	3
667	Ralph Jones	Bala	5	14	7	3		6	1	6		21	4
668	Dan Partington	Bala	8	3	9	9		4	5	2		22	5
710	David Angwin	Burghfield	23	6	10	29		3	4	13		36	6
714	David Batchelor	Isle of Man	19	7	4	5		14	10	10		36	7
656	Paul Hemsley	Burghfield	6	9	OCS	11		21	6	7		39	8
702	Ian Foxwell	Chipstead SC	16	10	12	7		30	12	25		57	9
683	Peter Jones	Felpham	9	30	17	8		7	22	18		59	10
680	Derick Gentry	Brightlingsea	13	8	11	17		22	13	14		59	11
640	Paul Taylor	Burghfield	3	28	6	6		DNF	18	34		61	12
690	Steve Davies	Felpham	12	15	22	15		24	9	11		62	13
647	Stuart Bailey	Medway	29	25	15	12		19	8	15		69	14
507	Andy Skynner	Chichester YC	15	23	5	30		11	24	20		74	15
613	D Andrews	Burghfield	26	19	19	10		17	16	12		74	16
696	Tim Heaton	Bala	11	26	13	18		16	17	17		74	17
658	Peter Barlow	Burghfield	14	20	24	26		8	14	19		75	18
706	Andy Large	Brightlingsea	22	11	27	24		10	DSQ	9		76	19
556	Keith Simmons	Bewl Valley	17	5	18	20		25	19	22		79	20
684	Stewart Pegum	Burghfield	30	12	20	25		29	15	8		80	21
672	Ian Moss	Whitefriars	35	16	25	14		12	23	16		81	22
688	Simon Kemp	Bewl Valley	21	22	31	27		9	7	28		86	23
663	Hugh Kingdon	Burghfield	DNC	DNC	33	13		15	21	5		87	24
649	Jon Silk	Whitstable	25	21	16	32		18	11	23		89	25
05	Robin Davison	MRSC	10	29	8	22		27	26	27		93	26
566	Sandy Baillie Strong	Warsash	7	24	21	23		20	25	DNS		95	27
687	David Turnbull	Redoubt	32	OCS	23	21		13	20	30		107	28
570	Simon Beddows	Burghfield	28	13	26	16		32	27	26		108	29
713	Stuart Brown	Burghfield	DNS	18	14	28		31	31	21		112	30
525	Steve Duncan	New. & Seaford	18	35	29	38		23	32	24		126	31
605	Derek Russell	MRSC	38	17	34	39		33	30	31		145	32
592	Bill Soudan	RFYC	20	27	41	19		RTD	DNS	DNS		151	33
637	Des Howell	Manx SC	24	40	37	40		26	28	DNS		155	34
694	Russell Dent	Brightlingsea	34	33	32	35		28	33	29		155	35
574	John Abbott	Oxford	37	31	28	34		34	34	32		159	36
607	Chris Willis	Wimbleball	31	32	36	33		35	39	37		167	37
627	David Proctor	MRSC	27	34	38	41		DNF	36	RTD		176	38
581	Chris Moss	Burghfield	DNC	DNC	30	37		37	37	35		176	39
500	John Hewat	Medway	33	36	40	36		36	35	36		176	40
606	Dave Young	Whitefriars	36	38	35	31		RTD	DNS	DNS		184	41
506	Bob Yates	Burghfield	39	39	DNC	43		RTD	38	33		192	42
692	Jon Nash	Gurnard	40	37	39	42		RTD	DNS	DNS		202	43