ISO Nationals - Highcliffe SC (27th - 29th July 2002)

The 2002 Iso Nationals was held at Highcliffe Sailing Club in Dorset on 27th-29th July. 23 boats attended a well-run joint event with the Bosses & Buzzes, with Highcliffe proving that running a successful nationals is as easy as 2-1-3! All 8 of the scheduled races were completed in mostly light variable winds and a fair amount of sunshine.

Race 1 was slightly delayed due to a mix-up with the flags and the starting order, but once underway in light to medium airs a precedence for the weekend was firmly established with Team RWO, Pete Lindley/Jonny Backhouse (1013) taking first place from Ian & Katie Keam-George (1188) in second. Johnathan Wells/Richard Beechey (1176) were third with Nick & Owen Bolding (555) fourth.

Race 2 went pretty much the same way with Team RWO first, the Boldings second, the Keam-Georges third and Stephen Ball/Declan O’Keefe (760) in fourth.

The winds died for race 3 but Lindley & Backhouse made it a day 1 whitewash by winning this one as well, with Wells/Beechey joint second with Ross Ashton/Chris Burch (822), and the Boldings in fourth.

Saturday nights plans were to grab a bite to eat laid on by the club after racing. Unfortunatley for the last people in the cue the food was a bit on the scarce side. Luckily the club was able to manage (just) and just about sort every ones hunger out. Some stayed on in the club that night for a few well deserved beers, while others went their separate ways. Team Levell / Milne decided it would be a good idea to take Nugget / Backhouse to see what all the Hype was about down in Christchurch. It was decided at 02:00 the next morning that all the Hype was for nothing and it would be a good idea to go home. (after all, nugget / Backhouse had to push bike back to the B&B and didn't reach there until 03:00!)

Day 2 started with an hours postponement, which seemed to suit a number of people nursing large hangovers! Levell / Milne's attempts to sabotage Lindley / Backhouses event failed as Team RWO hit the water feeling quite fresh! Once on the water the conditions were found to be calmer than the day before and the results less predictable.

Race 4 was won by the Keam-Georges with the Boldings second, Lindley/Backhouse third and Alan Castleton/Chris Chatterton (1159) fourth.

The Keam-Georges also won race 5 with Ashton/Burch second, Bob Ladell/Mark Clay (814) third after their FANTASTIC port ender - how good did that feel Bob?(just goes to show how good the ISO Coaching is! - Run by the 1013 pairing) with Alan Castleton & Chris Chatterton fourth again.

Team RWO were back to form in race 6, taking first place ahead of Steve Bell/Declan O'Keefe in second, Wells/Beechey in third and Mike & Andrew Perry (1192) in fourth.

After a disappointing night in Bournemouth with slightly less beer consumed than the night before, day 3 promised wind early on but actually turned out to be lighter than the day before. With 2 races remaining plenty of places were still to be decided.

Race 7 was won by Lindley/Backhouse (just to make sure!), Wells/Beechey were second, Castleton/Chatterton third and Ashton/Burch fourth.

Race 8 saw a delay due to the shifty conditions, but when eventually underway was won by Wells/Beechey. Castleton/Chatterton were second, Lindley/Backhouse (who swaped jobs on the boat) miraculously third after Backhouses 5th row start! and Bell/O'Keefe fourth.

Full Results Here....