An entry of 32 boats from 14 clubs took part in the London and Kent Area Nationwide championships and the final race in the Travellers series at Wilsonian Sailing Club on Saturday 29 September.

Three races with two to count were scheduled, two back to back in the morning and one after lunch. In the morning the winds were light and variable making course setting difficult for the race officer. However, the first race was started, after a delay of 20 minutes, when a Force 1-2 southerly picked up, but was restricted to one lap as the wind gradually eased.

Mark Heather from the home club had an excellent start and was first to the windward mark to lead all the way for line honours, closely followed by John Booth. Roger Phillips held off the challenge from Nathan Batchelor for third spot while Sam Tozer secured fifth. With near calm conditions it was decided to have an early lunch.

After lunch a light westerly breeze allowed the second race to get underway, a three-round short triangular course was set. Defending champion Chris Catt was soon out in front and led after the first round followed in close procession by Booth, Evan Scott, Batchelor and Andrew Fielder. On the second round Batchelor read the wind shifts well and made steady progress to lead the fleet, which he held for the final round. Catt slipped to third as Booth eased ahead for another second place and Scott secured fourth spot.

Going into the last race the contention for top honours was wide open and although the race went the full two rounds there were not any place changes at the front. Batchelor made certain of overall victory by taking an early lead, which was comfortably held to the line. Tozer kept up with the leader to ensure the fifth place prize while Booth had already done enough for second place. Phillips and Heather came home in third and fifth places respectively and were tied on six points for third place overall, the tie was broken in Heather’s favour. Catt claimed the sixth prize with 10 points London and Kent Area Nationwide Championship, overall results and prizes A bottle of wine was presented to John Booth’s Dad (Macclesfield), who had travelled the furthest. Overall Results

1st 43328, Nathan Batchelor (Clevedon SC) 2pts

2nd 43981, John Booth (Redesmere SC) 4pts

3rd 43856, Mark Heather (Wilsonian SC) 6pts

4th 43510, Roger Phillips (Great Moor SC) 6pts

5th 43251, Sam Tozer (Papercourt SC) 7pts

6th 42079 Chris Catt (Downs SC) 10pts

1st Lady 12764, Sophie Jones (Island Barn SC) 24pts

1st Junior 43229, Andrew Fielder (Broadwater SC) 12pts

1st Under 13 43720, Evan Scott (Grafham SC) 14pts

Overall London and Kent Travellers Series Results

1st 43856, Mark Heather (Wilsonian SC) 13pts

2nd 43232 Alex Cruttenden (Crawley Mariners SC) 25pts

3rd 37332, Douglas Horner (Wilsonian SC) 53 pts

4th 42804 Lucy Heather (Wilsonian SC) 63pts

5th 43229, Andrew Fielder (Broadwater SC) 68 pts

6th Lawrence Cavill (Bough Beech SC) 75pts